GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The No. 4 seeded Chattanooga Mocs softball team found themselves in an early hole and couldn't put a rally together during a 9-1 loss to No. 3 Furman in the Southern Conference Tournament on Thursday night.
 
The loss eliminates the Mocs from championship contention and concludes their season with a 26-30 overall record. Furman advances with a 40-14 overall record.
 
#3 Furman 9, #4 Chattanooga 1 (5)
Furman wasted no time putting runs up on the scoreboard. The Paladins drew a pair of walks and then recorded a hit-by-pitch to load the bases with one out. AnnaRose Borelli lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to push across a run and give Furman an early 1-0 lead.
 
The Paladins followed suit in the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back solo homeruns from Candace Johnson and Emma Ogburn to extend their lead to 3-0. They would add to their lead with a two-RBI double to right-center and then an RBI bloop single to center to make it 6-0.
 
Furman scored for the third-straight inning when a muffed throw at third base allowed a base runner to be waved around and pushed the score to 7-0.
 
Chattanooga scored its first run in the top of the fourth inning when Katie Corum started the inning with a lead-off single to right center. J.J. Hamill pinch-ran for Corum and later advanced to second with two outs after a pair of fly-outs. Emma Sturdivant brought in Hamill with an RBI single to right field to cut the deficit to 7-1.
 
The Paladins would end up scoring the game-clinching runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single and a double steal between second and home. They earned a five-inning, 9-1 victory and advanced in the SoCon Tournament.
 
The Mocs were limited to only three hits in the defeat. Amanda Beltran, Corum and Sturdivant (RBI) all recorded singles. It was the fewest amount of hits in a SoCon game for UTC since March 30.
 
Allison Swinford (9-13) suffered the loss in the circle, tossing 1.0 inning while allowing one hit, two runs (both earned) and three free passes. Celie Hudson also threw 1.0 inning and allowed five hits, five runs (four earned), two walks and one hit batter.
 
Paige Peterson completed 2.1 innings of relief work and held Furman to four hits and just one earned run. In 15.1 innings and 12 appearances this season, Peterson has allowed just two earned runs.


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