GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The fourth-seeded Chattanooga Mocs softball team belted a pair of homeruns and limited fifth-seeded Samford to one run in a 3-1 win during the opening round of the Southern Conference tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

Chattanooga advances to the next round of the championship and will face top-seeded UNCG tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. The Mocs improved to 26-28 overall while Samford drops to 18-37 this season.
 
Brook Womack and Amanda Beltran homered in the first two innings of the game to account for all three UTC runs. Celie Hudson and Allison Swinford combined to shut the Bulldogs offense down, limiting the opposition to six hits and only one run.

#4 Chattanooga 3, #5 Samford 1
Hard-hitting action was easy to come by in the opening game of the Southern Conference Tournament. Samford came out of the gates with a single from Shelby Maze and later pushed her across on a two-out RBI single by Hannah Trombley to take an early 1-0 lead.
 
Chattanooga answered right back in the home half of the first with a two-out rally. After the first two batters were retired, Aly Walker laced a single up the middle on a 3-1 count to keep the inning going. Brook Womack followed Walker with a two-run homerun over the center field fence to give the Mocs a 2-1 lead.
 
Starting pitcher Celie Hudson kept Samford off the board in the top of the second and preserved the one-run lead. Amanda Beltran laced a one-out, solo homerun off the scoreboard in right-center to extend the UTC lead to 3-1. It was her fifth homerun and tenth RBI in five games at UNCG Softball Stadium during SoCon tournament play in her career.
 
In a game that started with electric offense, the bats went cold on both sides in part of dominant pitching. Hudson tossed five-straight scoreless innings after allowing the first inning run. Samford turned to Taylor DeCelles in relief of starter Gillespie. DeCeless threw 4.1 innings of scoreless ball to keep the game close.
 
Chattanooga called upon freshman Allison Swinford in the top of the seventh inning to convert the save opportunity. Swinford retired the first two hitters before a double and walk landed runners on first and second with two outs. She induced a soft fly ball to right field to end the game and notch her third save of the season.
 
The Mocs and Bulldogs tied in the hit column at six apiece. Four of the six hits for UTC went for extra-bases with two of them as homeruns. Womack registered the lone multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 performance while adding a pair of RBI.

Beltran finished 1-for-2 with a homerun while Ashley Conner (1-for-3) and Alyssa Coppinger (1-for-2) added doubles in the victory. Walker notched a single in a 1-for-3 performance.

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The No. 4 seeded Chattanooga Mocs will face top-seeded and tournament host UNCG tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. with a trip to the semi-finals on the line in the winner's bracket.

Every game will be broadcasted LIVE on the SoCon Digital Network while the championship game will be on the ESPN+ platform on Saturday. Full tournament information can be found HERE.

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