CHATTANOOGA --- After wrapping up non-conference tournament play with a 21-7 record, the Chattanooga Mocs softball team gets set to open Southern Conference action this weekend with a three-game series in Greenville, S.C., on the campus of the Furman Paladins.

Chattanooga is coming off a 4-2 week at the USF Invitational in Clearwater, Fla., defeating the likes of Eastern Illinois, Wichita State, LIU Brooklyn and Buffalo. The team went 7-4 in the 11-game spring break trip to Florida.

Furman enters the weekend with an 8-18 mark after dropping contests to Virginia and Georgia Tech this week while splitting a doubleheader with Binghamton on Thursday.

Emily Coltharp was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Monday after her efforts on the field last week. She batted .500 (9-for-18) with eight runs scored and four RBI while going a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts.

Coltharp was the first UTC freshman to win the player of the week honor since 2008. She ranks 12^th in the SoCon this season with a .319 (23-for-72) batting average.

UTC leads the conference this season in multiple statistical categories including batting average (.313), on-base percentage (.400), RBI (142), ERA (2.55) and opposing batting average (.257).

Aly Walker leads the SoCon with a .398 (33-for-83) batting average and a .510% on-base percentage after the first six weeks of the season. Halie Williamson (5^th/.368), Amanda Beltran (6^th/.366) and Emma Sturdivant (7^th/.360) all rank among the top ten in the league behind Walker.

The pitching staff has been the anchor so far this season; pitching to a league-best 2.55 ERA while limiting opposing batters to a .257 average, also best in the league.

Mariah Ramirez carries a 9-0 record with a 2.53 ERA in 72.0 innings pitched while Celie Hudson is 7-5 with a 2.88 ERA in 73.0 innings of work. Allison Swinford adds a 5-2 record in the circle in 36.0 innings pitched while carrying a SoCon-best 1.36 ERA.

More series information, notes and opponent preview can be found below.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Pepsi Stadium – Greenville, S.C.
GM1 Saturday, Mar. 23 – 1 p.m. (VIDEO) (STATS)
GM2 Saturday, Mar. 23 – 3 p.m. (VIDEO) (STATS)
GM3 Sunday, Mar. 24 – 1 p.m.   (VIDEO) (STATS)
 
CHATTANOOGA NOTABLES
- Chattanooga is 21-7 on the season marking one of the best starts in program history… 21 wins are 19^th most in NCAA DI… .750 win percentage ranks 29^th… 88^th in first RPI release… first time back in the top 100 since 2015.
- Head coach Frank Reed picked up his 1,100^th career collegiate coaching victory last Friday… 625-418 (.599) in 18+ seasons at UTC… 476-87 (.845) in 11 seasons at Chattanooga State (NJCAA)… Reed ranks 47^th among all active NCAA DI coaches with .599 career win %.
- Freshman Emily Coltharp was named the SoCon Player of the Week (Mar. 18) after going 9-for-18 (.500) last week with eight runs and four RBI… first UTC freshman to win Player of the Week since 2008.
- Freshman Mariah Ramirez is 9-0 with a 2.53 ERA in the circle this season… entered the week as one of only eight pitchers in all NCAA DI that has yet to suffer a loss with 9+ wins… one of only three freshmen to carry that mark… SoCon Pitcher of the Month for February.
 
FURMAN PALADINS (8-18, 0-0 SoCon)
Notable players: Marissa Guimbarda, So.-P/1B (.396/9HR/25RBI); Cammy Pereira, R-So.-2B/3B (.306/11RBI); Taylor Vahle, Sr.-OF (.301/3HR/.521% SLG); Emily DeMonte, Sr.-P/DP (7-9/4.86ERA)

Furman hosted a total of four home games over the course of the week including games against ACC-members Virginia and Georgia Tech. Furman dropped both of the contests before splitting yesterday's doubleheader with Binghamton to pull their record to 8-18 overall.

Sophomore Marissa Guimbarda leads the conference with nine homeruns while ranking third in batting average with a .394 (28-for-71) mark. She helped lead Furman to a 5-1 victory over No. 14 Indiana with a 2-for-3, RBI performance last week at the USF Invitational.

Senior Emily DeMonte handles the majority of the workload in the circle for the Paladins, pitching to a 7-9 record with a 4.86 ERA in a team-high 98.0 innings and 20 appearances. She finished 13-4 with a 3.21 ERA last season, appearing in 20 games while starting 16 of them.

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