CLEARWATER, Fla. --- Three errors, all committed in the outfield grass, proved to be costly for the Chattanooga Mocs softball team during Sunday's 7-6 loss to Seton Hall at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater, Fla., as part of the USF Invitational.

Chattanooga falls to 17-5 overall this season while Seton Hall improved its mark to 8-10. Aly Walker and Amanda Beltran both homered while Emma Sturdivant registered a double and triple in the loss.

BOX SCORE » Seton Hall 7, Chattanooga 6
After yesterday's slow day on the offensive side of things, Chattanooga, playing as the visitors, came out swinging and struck for runs in the opening frame for the ninth time this season.

Sidney Swantic led the inning off with a walk and stole second two pitches later to land a runner in scoring position with no outs. Aly Walker singled with one out before Halie Williamson drove both runners in with a two-RBI double to right to put UTC ahead 2-0.

Seton Hall would strike for a run in the bottom of the second inning to pull within one, 2-1, after a leadoff single set up an eventual RBI double down the line in left. Mariah Ramirez earned the start for the Mocs in the circle for the second-straight game.

The contest remained at a one-run differential until the bottom of the fourth when UTC allowed two unearned runs to score. With one out, SHU popped a pitch up to shallow left center that looked to be the sure second out of the inning, but the ball somehow found the grass after some miscommunication from the defense. That miscue set up runners at second and third and led to both an RBI single and a UTC pitching change.

Celie Hudson relived Ramirez in the circle with one out and two runners on. After a walk, she surrendered a sacrifice fly and recorded a strikeout to limit the damage from the Pirates offense. Both runs were unearned in the scorebook as SHU grabbed a 3-2 lead.

Chattanooga responded quickly in the top of the fifth when Walker and Sturdivant led the inning off with a single and an RBI triple down the line in right to tie things up 3-3. After a strikeout, Katie Corum stepped up with a pinch-hit, RBI single to pull UTC ahead 4-3.

The Mocs did not hang on to the lead long after a crucial mistake in the outfield tied the game. Seton Hall's Baylee Allender lifted a fly ball to the front of the warning track in left center and came all the way around to score after outfielders Sidney Swantic and Alyssa Coppinger collided and failed to catch the ball.

Just four pitches later, SHU blasted a solo homerun deep over the left field fence to re-gain the lead 5-4. Allison Swinford took over the pitching duties from Hudson after the homer.

Walker came up huge for UTC in the top of the sixth with a two-out, game-tying solo homer to right center after working the at-bat to a friendly 2-1 count.

Once again, Seton Hall responded with runs of their own on the help of Chattanooga errors. Swinford recorded a strikeout to begin the inning before a single and an RBI double allowed the Pirates to pull in front, 6-5.

With a runner on second and one out, Swinford induced a fly out to right field, but a throwing error on the toss to the lead bag went high and allowed the runner to advance to third with two outs.

SHU capitalized one batter later with a soft RBI-single through the left side to bring in another unearned run and push the advantage to 7-5. Amanda Beltran homered to lead the top of the seventh off, but UTC couldn't extend the rally and fell 7-6.

Swinford (4-1) suffered her first loss of the season after finishing the last 1.2 innings, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out two. Hudson tossed 1.0 inning and allowed two runs (one earned) while Ramirez went 3.1 innings and allowed five hits and three runs (one earned).

Chattanooga busted out with 10 hits as a team, the first double-digit hit game since Feb. 25's win over EKU. UTC tied a season-high with 10 runners stranded.

Notable Performances: Aly Walker (3-for-3, HR, RBI, 3 R); Emma Sturdivant (2-for-3, 3B, RBI, R); Halie Williamson (1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI); Amanda Beltran (1-for-3, HR, RBI)

CHATTANOOGA NOTABLES
- Chattanooga falls to 17-5 this season and finished with a 3-2 record over the first weekend at the USF Invitational… first loss this season when scoring in the first inning… now 8-1 in such games… now 7-2 in one-run games.
- Sunday's game marked head coach Frank Reed's 1,600^th career collegiate game as a skipper between his tenures at Chattanooga State and UTC… he carries a 1,097-503 career mark in 28+ seasons.
- Aly Walker belted her first homerun of the season with a game-tying solo shot in the sixth against Seton Hall… finished 3-for-3 with a homer and an RBI while scoring three times… leads the team with 20 runs scored this season.
- Amanda Beltran roped her sixth homer of the season with a lead-off HR in the top of the seventh against Seton Hall… leads team in HR (6), RBI (22) & slugging percentage (.683).

UP NEXT
Chattanooga continues play in Clearwater, Fla., next weekend with six games. UTC begins play against Eastern Illinois on Thursday at 11 a.m. Live stats are available on the schedule page (subject to change). We ask fans to please check @GoMocsSB on Twitter for any link or game time changes.

Follow @GoMocsSB on Twitter for the most up-to-date information regarding Chattanooga softball.