CHATTANOOGA --- Winners of its last four and six of the last seven, the Chattanooga Mocs softball team looks to continue the momentum this weekend in a crucial three-game series against SoCon-rival ETSU at Betty Basler Field in Johnson City, Tenn., on Saturday and Sunday.
 
UTC and ETSU will meet in a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping up the series on Sunday with a single game, also at 1 p.m. For fans making the trip, admission is FREE.
 
Chattanooga (29-12, 7-5 SoCon) is coming off a three-game sweep of Western Carolina and a non-conference win at Belmont. ETSU (18-21-2, 4-7 SoCon) snapped a seven-game conference skid with an extra-inning win over Furman last weekend.
 
UTC currently sits in fourth place in the league standings while ETSU follows in fifth. Samford (10-4), UNCG (7-4) and Mercer (7-4) narrowly lead the pack and are well within striking distance for the Mocs. WCU (4-10) and Furman (3-8) round out the 2019 regular season standings.
 
All series information including game times, coverage links, notes and more is below.  

GAME TIMES & COVERAGE
» Saturday, April 27^th (DH) – 1 p.m.
    » LIVE STATS (GM1)
    » LIVE STATS (GM2)
» Sunday, April 28^th – 1 p.m.
    » LIVE STATS

RECORDS
» Chattanooga: 29-12, 7-5 SoCon (4^th)
» ETSU: 18-21-2, 4-7 SoCon (5^th)

SERIES HISTORY | NOTES
» Chattanooga leads 24-10 (.706) all-time meetings vs. ETSU
» ETSU has won six of the last ten meetings including last three in Johnson City
    » ETSU, W 8-3, in last meeting on April 29, 2018

CHATTANOOGA NOTABLES | NOTES
» Chattanooga improved to 29-12 overall & 7-5 in SoCon after three-game sweep over Western Carolina last weekend… winners of last four… six of last seven… .707% overall winning percentage this season ranks 37^th in NCAA DI… second among all TN schools.
» Pitching staff leads SoCon & ranks 31^st nationally with 2.26 ERA this season… has allowed three earned runs or less in 12 of last 13 games… held WCU to five runs & .194 average in three-game sweep.
» Celie Hudson was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday… second time this season and third time of her career… went 2-0 with one save in 16.2 scoreless innings last week… recorded both wins & save in sweep over WCU… fired back-to-back CG shutouts in GM2 & GM3 of the series... 1.38 ERA in SoCon games only leads the league.
» Aly Walker leads the SoCon with a .377 batting average this season… on current 9-game hit streak… 11-for-26 (.423) with four doubles, two homers & eight RBI during streak.
» Amanda Beltran homered for the 23^rd time of her career last week… moves into a tie for 6^th all-time at UTC… caught an attempted base-stealer for the 27^th time in a Chattanooga uniform… now 2^nd all-time.

ETSU BUCS (18-21-2, 4-7 SoCon) | STATS
Notable players: Nikki Grupp, Jr.-IF (.333/10HR/41RBI), Taylor Wright, Sr.-IF (.284/15RBI/.396OBP), Kelly Warren, So.-OF (.283/39H/27R), Kelly Schmidt, Jr.-P (7-9/3.94ERA/112IP/.239BAA), Taylor Boling, Fr.-P (7-8/4.24ERA/100.2IP/4SV)

ETSU enters the weekend with an 18-21-2 overall mark and a 4-7 tally in Southern Conference play after splitting a two-game, rain-shortened series at home against Furman last weekend. The Bucs started league play 3-0, but have since dropped seven of its last eight with five losses coming by three runs or less.
 
Junior Nikki Grupp leads the offensive attack in seemingly every category, holding team-highs in average (.333), hits (41), homeruns (10), RBI (41), runs scored (33), slugging percentage (.642) and on-base percentage (.432).
 
Sophomore Kelly Warren and redshirt senior Malloree Schurr provide exceptional speed on the base paths, combining to steal 26 of an attempted 28 bases this season. Schurr is a perfect 10-for-10 while Warren is 16-for-18.
 
The Bucs pitching staff carries a season ERA of 4.60, which ranks third among the SoCon ranks. Junior Kelly Schmidt has tossed a team-high 112.0 innings this season while limiting opposing hitters to a .239 average and recording 82 strikeouts.

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