CLEARWATER, Fla. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team struggled at the plate as they dropped both games Friday at the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. The Lady Mocs only recorded five hits on the afternoon highlighted by junior Lyndsey Stiles' (Hixson, Tenn.) 2-for-3 performance against UMass.

UMass defeated Chattanooga 3-0 in a game that had one of the craziest starts in recent memory offensively and defensively. An interesting call by the home plate umpire ended the bottom of the first with a double play on a strikeout swinging and batter's interference on the same pitch.

In the second game, the offense continued to have a hard time finding consistency as freshman Kasey Tydingco (Fairfield, Calif.) had the team's only hit, an infield single to short.

Senior Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) took both losses in the circle for Chattanooga, but struck out 10 Hokies in a classic pitcher's duel before Virginia Tech exploded in a four-run sixth.

The Lady Mocs return to action Saturday when they battle Bradley and Rutgers starting at 9:30 a.m. Chattanooga concludes the USF Under Armour Invitational on Sunday at 9 a.m. against Villanova.

Game One: UMass 3, Chattanooga 0

The UTC softball team dropped the first game of the USF Under Armour Invitational to No. 24 UMass, 3-0. Stiles went 2-for-3 in the game with two singles.

The Lady Mocs took a difficult loss as they fall to 11-4 on the season and the Minutewomen raise their record to 7-4.

The story of the game was the start as Loudermilk was called for eight illegal pitches and UMass took an early 1-0 lead. Strange plays for Chattanooga continued as Stiles started off the game with a single up the middle. Junior Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) struck out, but also was called for interfering with the catcher's throw to second as she swung over top a nasty curveball over the outside part of the plate.

Loudermilk started for the Lady Mocs and pitched just over an inning before junior Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) relieved her. Irwin pitched well for Chattanooga striking out four, but gave up two runs, only one of the earned. Junior Nikki Waters (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) finished the contest for the Lady Mocs pitching three scoreless innings.

Stiles beat out a ball hit to the shortstop for her second hit of the game in the fourth. Junior Tia Blosser (Knoxville, Tenn.) lined a single into the right center field gap giving Chattanooga its third base runner of the game in the fifth.

Senior Kaiti Kelly (Chattanooga, Tenn.) hit a double that eluded the shortstop and left fielder as they converged for an attempted catch, but was left on base.

In the second inning, Meghan Carta drove a ball over the left field fence to make the score 2-0 UMass. A wide throw by the shortstop led to the third Minutewomen run in the top of the fourth.

UMass pitcher Sara Plourde struck out 13 Lady Mocs on the game and gave up four hits. Only four runners for Chattanooga reached base.

Game Two: Virginia Tech 4, Chattanooga 0

The second game of the day was similar to the first as a pitcher's duel ensued between Chattanooga and Virginia Tech, but the Hokies found a way to score four runs in the six to break the game open on the first day of the USF Under Armour Invitational in Clearwater, Fla.

With the bats silenced through five innings by Chattanooga's Loudermilk and Virginia Tech's Kenzie Roark combining for 20 strikeouts, Virginia Tech broke through with four runs in the bottom of the six.

The Hokies improved to 5-10 on the season, while the loss dropped the Lady Mocs to 11-5.

Tydingco posted the only hit in the game for Chattanooga. It was an infield single during the bottom of the third.

Loudermilk hit double digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season. She set a season high with 13 strikeouts against Northern Iowa.

The hardest ball hit for the Lady Mocs came off the bat of senior catcher Lynleigh Hurndon (McDonough, Ga.), but the center fielder had a great jump on the ball and made the diving catch.

With one out in the six, Bkaye Smith for the Hokies singled up the middle and was driven in for the first run of the game on a single by Ashton Ward. After a walk and with two outs, Courtney Liddle drove a Loudermilk pitch over the left field fence giving Virginia Tech a 4-0 lead.

Roark was stellar for the Hokies in her complete-game shutout victory. She fanned 10 batters and only gave one hit.