CHATTANOOGA – The Chattanooga Mocs softball team committed four errors on defense and allowed six unearned runs to score in Sunday's 8-3 loss to ETSU in the series finale on Senior Day at Frost Stadium.
 
Following the loss, Chattanooga falls to 25-25 overall and finishes the Southern Conference regular season at 9-7. They will have to wait until the conclusion of play around the league next weekend to find out their final seeding for the SoCon Tournament. ETSU improved to 14-25 overall and 2-11 in conference play.
 
Chattanooga wasted no time on offense as they struck early in the bottom of the first to build a lead. Hayleigh Weissenbach drew a lead-off walk and advanced to second on the next pitch via a sacrifice bunt from J.J. Hamill.
 
A batter later, Aly Walker drilled a 1-0 pitch deep over the center field wall for her fourth homerun of the season to give the Mocs a 2-0 lead.
 
Ashley Conner chopped an infield single with two outs and later advanced to second on a passed ball. Emma Sturdivant drove her in with a single up the middle to extend the Mocs lead to 3-0 after the first inning.
 
After a scoreless second, ETSU cut into their deficit in the top of the third after scoring two runs on three hits. The Bucs scored on an RBI ground-out to second with one out before an RBI single to right field with two outs closed the gap to 3-2.
 
ETSU would take its first lead of the game in the top of fourth after the Mocs committed an error and allowed two unearned runs to score. A fielding error with one out gave way to a pair of RBI singles from Venessa Elliot and Nikki Grupp to give the Bucs a 4-3 lead.
 
They would add to their advantage in the top of the sixth with three more unearned runs. Another fielding error allowed the Bucs to put runners on first and second with two outs.
 
Taylor Wright belted a deep fly ball over the center field fence that tipped off of the glove of Alyssa Coppinger, who attempted to bring the ball back into the park, and fell over for a three-run homerun to push their lead to 7-3. Another unearned run was scored in the top of the seventh to make the score 8-3.
 
Starting pitcher Celie Hudson (12-12) suffered the loss in the circle as she went 3.2 innings while allowing six hits and three walks. She surrendered four runs while only two of them went down as earned.
 
Allison Swinford tossed 2.1 innings of relief and allowed three hits and two walks while striking out one. She gave up three runs in the sixth inning, but all of them were unearned.
 
» Stats Update
- Aly Walker went 3-for-3 with a triple, homerun and two RBI … she now is on an eight-game hitting streak and is seven for her last ten at-bats … Walker is now leading the team with a .383 batting average for the season and ranks second in the Southern Conference.
- Ashley Conner finished 2-for-3 with two singles and a run scored … Conner upped her season batting average to .311 … she started in her 150^th career game on Sunday.
- Emma Sturdivant went 1-for-3 with a single and RBI … RBI was the 27^th for her this season which is second-most on the team.
 
» Up Next
Chattanooga will head to Atlanta, Ga., to face Georgia State on Wednesday for a non-conference clash. First pitch is slated for 4 p.m. and all game coverage links can be found on the shed
 
The Mocs will host SEC-power and nationally-ranked Auburn on Sunday, May 6^th for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Over 1,200 tickets have already been sold but a limited number of tickets still remain. Fans can purchase tickets by going to the schedule page on GoMocs.com or by calling the box office at (423) 266-MOCS. (Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm).

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