Chattanooga 7, Middle Tennessee 3
Chattanooga 7, Middle Tennessee 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Senior outfielder Ashlan Clarkson (Chickamauga, Ga.) was one of three Lady Mocs to belt home runs and senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) went 4-for-7 with three runs scored to lead Chattanooga (29-14,7-0) to a pair of victories, 7-3 and 7-2, over Middle Tennessee (15-21, 7-7 Sun Belt) Thursday evening at Jim Frost Stadium.
After being held hitless through the first three innings, Middle Tennessee led off the fourth with a double and single to put runners on second and third. A bunt single by senior first baseman Whitney Darlington followed by a passed ball gave the Blue Raiders a 2-0 advantage.
They would add a third run the following inning when a single, sac bunt and ground out advanced the leadoff batter to third base. Senior catcher Katie Mielke then doubled to right center to push the lead to 3-0.
Chattanooga got it all back, and then some, in their half of the fifth inning. A leadoff single, sacrifice bunt, passed ball and single by freshman outfielder Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) got the Lady Mocs on the board at 3-1. She advanced to second on a throwing error and moved to third on a double to left by Tara Tembey. A ground out put the second out on the scoreboard before freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) reached on a fielder's choice to score Stiles from third and make it 3-2.
Junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) followed that with an RBI single to tie the game and freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) laced a double to the left centerfield gap to score two more and give Chattanooga a 5-3 lead. All tolled, UTC tallied five runs on five hits and one error in the inning.
The Lady Mocs continued to rip the ball in the sixth, adding a pair of insurance runs as freshman outfielder Lauren Flores (Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.) singled home a run to make it 6-3 and Fuzzard doubled to right center to reach the final margin of 7-3. Sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.), who started the game but left in the fourth inning, re-entered the game in the sixth inning with the score at 5-3 and had an uneventful two innings to collect her fourth save of the season.
Freshman pitcher Kaitlin Holloway (Chickamauga, Ga.) pitched two innings of relief, allowing three hits and a run, to move to 5-1 on the season. She has earned a win in each of her last three outings, all in relief. Sophomore Lindsey Vander Lugt went the distance for MTSU, taking the loss to fall to 10-12 on the year.
Offensively for Chattanooga, Michelle Fuzzard went 2-for-4 with a run scored, two RBIs and her team-leading 12th double while Lyndsey Stiles tied her career-highs for hits, runs and RBIs as she went 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI and her fifth stolen base. Katie Blevins finished with a hit and two RBIs while Toni Hutchison and Lauren Flores each added an RBI.
A three-run shot by Ashlan Clarkson down the left field line in the second inning of the nightcap gave the Lady Mocs an early 3-0 lead in that contest. The score would stay at 3-0 until the top of the fourth when a pair of singles by junior designated hitter Justine Cerda and junior third baseman Whittney Padgett narrowed the gap to 3-2.
Katie Blevins then gave the Lady Mocs a little breathing room as she led off the next inning with her 13th home run of the season, a towering shot that sailed over the scoreboard in left center, to make it 4-2. Chattanooga would add to that lead in the fifth inning, as a leadoff walk, double and sac bunt put runners on second and third. Michelle Fuzzard then lifted a sac fly to left to extend to a 5-2 advantage before Toni Hutchison drilled her fifth home run of the season down the left field line to make it 7-2.
Fuzzard, who entered in relief in the fourth inning, then proceeded to retire the side 1-2-3 in each of the last two innings to pick up the win and move to 4-2 on the season. Freshman Kellie Head allowed all seven runs, four earned, and took the loss for Middle Tennessee to fall to 5-9 in 2008.
Ashlan Clarkson led the way at the plate for the Lady Mocs, finishing the night 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBIs, all on her second home run of the season, while Hutchison added two RBIs on her fifth home run. Blevins blast pushes her team-leading RBI total to 34 on the season while Fuzzard added an RBI on a sac fly. Tara Tembey finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and went 4-for-7 with three runs scored.
Chattanooga has now won 13 consecutive games, its longest such streak since the 2005 team won 15 straight from March 11-30 of that year and is tied for the fifth longest in program history. The 2001 and 2004 teams each won 17 in a row (March 17-April 13, 2001 and April 1-May1, 2004) while the 1998 team won 15 consecutive games from March 28-April 17. The 2002 squad, in Coach Reed's first season, won 13 games in a row from April 20-May 17.
The Lady Mocs return to action on Saturday, April 12 when they resume their Southern Conference schedule by hosting the Elon Phoenix in a three-game series at Jim Frost Stadium. First pitch of Game 1 is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday with the series finale set for 2:00 p.m.
NOTES
With her fourth save of the season, Brooke Loudermilk is now tied for fourth most in a single season at Chattanooga and moves into a ninth-place tie nationally ... she is tied for fourth all-time at UTC with six career saves ... with 13 home runs this season, Katie Blevins is only one home run away from tying the Lady Mocs single-season mark of 14 set by Angela Brewer in 2001 ... her 13 home runs tie her for eighth all-time on the career list ... Chattanooga is now 18-4 at home this season and has won 11 straight at Jim Frost Stadium ... UTC's last defeat at home was a 1-0 loss to Connecticut on March 1.
USA Olympic Team 13, UNC Greensboro 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? The UNC Greensboro softball team kept the USA Olympic Team off the board for the first two innings but the USA used a five-run third inning en route to a 13-0 win over UNCG on Thursday night at UNCG Softball Stadium.
The USA tallied 13 runs on 15 hits and pitcher Jennie Finch and gave up one walk and one base when she hit UNCG third baseman Emily Akiyama. UNCG pitchers Amber Harrell and Hannah Angel combined for four strikeouts on the night.
“This was a once and a lifetime opportunity for our program and the University,” said coach Jennifer Herzig. “I’m grateful that we had this chance and very proud of the way that we represented ourselves tonight.”
UNCG was able to keep the USA off the board through two innings behind the stellar play of starting pitcher Amber Harrell. The national team threatened runs in the first inning after loading the bases with three consecutive walks but the McDonough, GA native pitched out of it by sitting down Vicky Galindo, Lovie Jung and Lauren Lappin to end the inning.
The Spartans took their first base of the evening when Finch hit Akiyama but UNCG couldn’t manage a hit to move her and ended the inning with two strikeouts. The UNCG defense started well in the bottom of the third inning and recorded two quick outs with a pop out and a fly out before the USA demonstrated its hitting prowess.
Harrell walked leftfielder Jessica Mendoza in the next at bat and back-to-back singles from Crystl Bustos and Kelly Kretschman loaded the bases. USA was able to push two runs across with a RBI single from Andrea Duran and a RBI single from Vicky Galindo scored Kretschman to give the USA a, 3-0 lead.
A single from Lappin, who was tagged out at second, added two more runs to the USA tally and gave them a commanding 5-0 lead.
Hannah Angel entered the game for the Spartans in the fourth inning and was able to keep them scoreless through the fourth and fifth innings before a three-run home run from Natasha Watley followed by a two-run home run from Crystl Bustos pushed the lead to 12-0. Galindo rounded the bases for the final run of the night on a RBI double from Caitlin Lowe.
The Spartans will jump back into conference action this weekend when they welcome Georgia Southern for a league series. The squads will play a doubleheader on Saturday with a scheduled 1 pm first pitch. The teams will conclude the series with a single game beginning at 1 pm.