CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga softball team completed its third series sweep against the Southern Conference with a 10-0 win Senior Day victory over Furman at Frost Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Chattanooga improves to 34-13 overall and hold onto its one-game lead in the SoCon standings over UNCG at 13-5. Furman falls to 21-29 on the year and 6-12 against the league.
Junior pitcher Alyssa Lavdis sent her seniors out with a memorable game facing the minimum and throwing a one-hitter. Only three Paladins saw the plate twice in the game and Furman's only player to reach did so on a hard hit shot to third. She was thrown out on the ensuing at bat on a double play to clear the bases.
Chattanooga put two runs on the board in the first and added three more in the third and put the game away with five in the fourth. The run-rule win was the ninth for UTC this season.
With two outs in the first, Olivia Lipari singled hard up the middle and advanced to second on a single by Baileigh Pitts. A wild pitch moved the batters up and another on the next pitch sent Lipari home for the first run. Senior Kendall Forsythe singled to left field, plating Pitts and the Mocs led 2-0 after one.
Kailey Snell singled to lead off the third and Lipari connected on her second of three hits. Pitts drew a walk to load the bases and Forsythe drilled a double off the fence in right field, clearing the bases to put UTC up 5-0.
Acelynn Sellers led off with a hit by pitch and was sacrificed over by Snell. Camryn Cernuto reached on a fielding error to put runners at the corners for Lipari whose third hit of the game scored Sellers. Pitts snuck her hit through the right side to send Cernuto home from second and put Lipari on third.
Senior Kaili Phillips hit a three-run homer over the fence in right center, giving the Mocs 10 runs.
Furman sent three pinch hitters to the base in the top of the fifth. The first popped up to second base. Lavdis struck out the second and the final out was a pop up to Phillips at third.
Lipari went 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored. Forsythe was 2-for-3 with three RBI and Kaili Phillips hit her team-leading 14th home run and drove in three runs. Pitts was 2-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and scored two runs.
Lavdis improved to 10-5 overall, faced 15 batters in five innings and struck out one.
Chattanooga will step out of SoCon play and close out the home slate Tuesday against Georgia State. The game is set to start at 5:00 p.m. The Mocs will close out the season next weekend with a three-game series at Western Carolina before heading to Greensboro, N.C., for the Southern Conference Championships hosted by UNCG.
Prior to the game, Chattanooga bid farewell to seniors Kendall Forsythe, Addy Keylon and Kaili Phillips as well as team managers Hannah Davis and Maddie Floyd.
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