Missouri 3, Chattanooga 1
Chattanooga 1, Long Island 0
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Senior outfielder Ashlan Clarkson (Chickamauga, Ga.) connected for her first homerun of the season and freshman pitcher Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) pitched a five-hit, complete game shutout as Chattanooga (12-9) split their first two games of the USF Under Armour Invitational with a 3-1 loss to Missouri (16-6) and a 1-0 victory over LIU (3-8) Thursday afternoon at the Eddie C. Moore Sports Complex.
Game 1 against Missouri featured a pitching duel through the first three innings as neither team was able to scratch a run as both starting pitchers shut down the offenses. That changed in the fourth inning when junior infielder Lindsey Ubrun connected for her team-leading seventh homerun of the season to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Mizzou added a pair of insurance runs in the following inning with a pair of RBI singles by freshman utility player Kathryn Poet and sophomore outfielder Julie Silver to push their lead to 3-0. They turned out to be key runs as freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) led off the bottom of the sixth inning by belting her third homerun of the season to close to 3-1.
From there, junior pitcher Stacy Delaney retired the final six Chattanooga batters to secure the 3-1 victory and move her record to a team-leading 7-2. The Michigan transfer notched a game-high 11 strikeouts.
Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the loss for UTC to fall to 5-4 on the season while freshman pitcher Kaitlin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief and struck out four batters.
For Missouri, Ubrun went 1-for-3 with her seventh homerun of the year and drove in her 26th RBI while Poet finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI. Silver went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Fuzzard led the way for the Lady Mocs with a 2-for-3 performance with a run and an RBI while redshirt-freshman second baseman Tiffany Baker (East Ridge, Tenn.) also went 2-for-3.
The Long Island game also featured strong pitching performances as Fuzzard and sophomore Tiger pitcher Blair Porter allowed no runs and a combined four hits through the first four innings. Following another scoreless outing in the top of the fifth by Fuzzard, Ashlan Clarkson drove a Porter pitch over the left field fence to give the Lady Mocs a 1-0 lead.
Fuzzard would make that lead stand up as she recorded the final six outs and allowed only two more hits to collect her first collegiate victory and move to 1-1 on the season. Porter took the loss for LIU to drop to 2-4 on the year. Senior catcher Jessie DePippo went 2-for-3 for the Blackbirds.
Clarkson's first homerun of the season was the difference as she went 1-for-2 with a run and RBI while junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) and junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) each added a single.
The Lady Mocs return to action tomorrow morning when they face Purdue University at 9:30 a.m. and Villanova at 12:00 p.m.
NOTES
Clarkson's homerun is the tenth of her career and first of the season ... she is one homerun away from moving into a tie for ninth-place all-time on the Lady Mocs career homeruns list ... the win, complete game and shutout by Fuzzard are the first of her career.
Schedule Changes Friday and Saturday
CLEARWATER, Fla. ? Heavy rains that swept through the Clearwater area Thursday have forced a number of schedule changes at the USF Under Armour Invitational.
Instead of facing Purdue at 9:30 a.m. and Villanova at 12:00 p.m. tomorrow, Chattanooga will now face the Boilermakers tomorrow at 12:00 p.m., Central Michigan at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday and the Wildcats at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
The rains also forced the cancellation of Bracket Play on Sunday. Games that were rained out today will be made up on Sunday.
For further information concerning the tournament schedule changes, visit www.usfseries.com and click on game schedules. The Lady Mocs complete updated schedule can be found on www.GoMocs.com under the schedule page.