CHATTANOOGA --- Junior Aly Walker belted a two-out, two-run homerun in the top of the sixth to lift the No. 3 seeded Chattanooga Mocs softball team, 3-1, over top-seeded UNCG in the semi-final round of the Southern Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon inside Jim Frost Stadium.
 
Chattanooga (36-14) advances to its 16^th Southern Conference Tournament championship appearance in program history following the victory. UTC last appeared in the title game in 2015 in route to claiming the school's 13^th SoCon Tournament championship.
 
UTC and UNCG will meet in the championship round tomorrow afternoon with first pitch set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+. Since the Mocs are 3-0 in the winner's bracket this week and UNCG comes in at 2-1, the if necessary game will kick off 30 minutes upon conclusion of game one. 
 
BOX SCORE » No. 3 Chattanooga 3, No. 1 UNCG 1
In a battle between the top two pitcher's across the Southern Conference, Chattanooga's Celie Hudson and UNCG's Stephanie Bryden lived up to the high expectations.
 
Hudson settled in after a turbulent start while Bryden cruised through majority of the game. Both pitchers combined to allow just four hits over the first four innings, striking out 10 over the span.
 
UNCG found its way to Hudson in the home half of the second, scoring one run on three hits, to take an early 1-0 lead. Melanie Darges laced a two-out double to left before Monica Pepe dropped an RBI single in down the right field line.
 
Halie Williamson doubled in the top of the second for Chattanooga, the team's only hit over the first five innings. Bryden set UTC down in order in the first, third and fourth needing just 34 pitches to do the job.
 
With only one hit on the board and still trailing 1-0 heading into the top of the sixth, Emily Coltharp slapped a soft liner to short left that was misplayed, resulting in a two-base error with one out.
 
Following a soft pop-out, Aly Walker stepped up to the plate with two outs and Coltharp still on second. Down in the count 1-2, Walker lifted a high fly ball to straight-away center, catching enough of it to carry the wall, putting Chattanooga ahead 2-1. (WATCH)
 
Cameren Swafford added a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly to left with one out in the seventh to add an insurance run and extend the lead to 3-1. Swafford connected on the sixth pitch of the bat after fouling off a trio of pitches to extend the at bat.
 
Hudson allowed a two-out walk in the bottom half of the sixth before a three-pitch strikeout ended any potential harm. Coltharp threw on to first from shortstop to record the game's final out in the bottom of the seventh, sending Chattanooga to the title game matchup.
 
Hudson (15-9) earned her seventh win in her last nine starts after going the distance for the 19^th time this season. She allowed just four hits and one earned run while striking out six and stranding nine Spartans.  
 
Chattanooga mustered only three hits during the victory, all going for extra bases. Williamson doubled twice in addition to Walker's round tripper.

Notable performances: Celie Hudson (CG, 4H, ER, 6K), Aly Walker (1-for-3, GW HR, 2 RBI), Halie Williamson (2-for-3, 2 2B)

CHATTANOOGA NOTABLES
» Chattanooga improved to 36-14 (.720) this season following the win… 16^th appearance in the Southern Conference Championship game(s)… winners of its last five… snapped six-game losing streak to UNCG.
» Celie Hudson fired her 19^th complete game of the season in the victory… 11^th game this season going 6.0IP with one or less earned runs allowed… winner in seven of her last nine starts… improved to 15-9 this season with a 1.99 ERA.
» Aly Walker belted her 5^th HR of the season with a go-ahead two-run shot in the top of the sixth… 2^nd game-winning homer (April 13 at Mercer)… leading team with .356 (53-for-149) average and .455 OBP this season.
» Halie Williamson went 2-for-3 with two doubles… upped her season batting average to .336 (44-for-131)… has a hit in nine of her last 11 games played… two multi-hit games during that span.

UP NEXT
No. 3 Chattanooga rematches with No. 1 UNCG tomorrow in the championship round at 1 p.m. on ESPN+. Since UTC is the top team from the winner's bracket, there will be an 'if necessary' game if UNCG were to claim a game one win. That will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opening game.

You can find complete tournament information at the TOURNAMENT CENTRAL page, courtesy of the Southern Conference.

Please follow @GoMocsSB on Twitter for the most up-to-date information regarding Chattanooga softball including schedule changes, highlights and more.