CLERMONT, Fla. - The 2012 season started Friday morning and there were a lot of questions for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team that lost five senior starters including two pitchers heading into Dot Richardson's National Collegiate Invitational in Clermont, Fla. The Lady Mocs and head coach Frank Reed, who picked up his 400th win at Chattanooga (2-0), made a statement in the first game flexing their offensive power with a 12-1 win over Bethune-Cookman (0-1)  after five innings before freshman pitcher Taylor Deason (Clarksville, Tenn.) converted a complete-game three-hitter, striking out six in a 5-3 victory against Florida A&M (0-1).

"In Taylor's first inning, we made a defensive error and a couple of miscues, but Taylor really settled down and that's going to build her confidence," said Reed. "It was a great outing for Taylor and a great outing for our freshmen."

Five newcomers in freshmen outfielder Cheyenne Willis (Manchester, Tenn.), outfielder Nicole Osterman (Kissimmee, Fla.), third baseman Sarah Beth Roberts (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Deason along with junior third baseman Ninjja Suetsugu (Sao Paulo, Brazil) made their first collegiate starts, while sophomore  Kaiti Dutton (Tulsa, Okla.), who had four hits, was the third starter in the outfield that graduated three standouts.

Roberts and Willis led the newcomers on the day totaling four hits, while Willis also drove in two runs and scored four times. Osterman and Suetsugu each tallied a hit and RBI in the first game.

"I said going in I thought we had a pretty good offensive lineup," said Reed. "We were trying to get our best offensive people in, and I am very proud of our freshmen. Willis and Osterman did an awesome job today along with our other players. It's always fun to score runs, especially when you can get the win in five innings. You don't want to over work your pitchers so everything worked out for us."

Senior pitcher and designated player Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) had a productive day, tallying three hits, including a two-run home run and six RBI. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native was just as impressive in the circle against the Wildcats posting two strikeouts on just five hits in the five inning contest.

Notching four hits in the doubleheader was lead-off hitter sophomore second baseman Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.), who added three RBI and two runs scored.

Chattanooga returns to action tomorrow with two games on the docket starting off at 11 a.m. against North Carolina and then facing UCF at 5 p.m.

Game One: Chattanooga 12, Bethune-Cookman 1 (5 innings)

Each team started the season with a hit in the opening inning as Cesley Tafoya and Willis singled. The Wildcats threatened first after a walk and single by Simon Ceasar put two runners on. Fuzzard was unable to make an out on a sacrifice bunt attempt, which loaded the bases with no outs. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native worked her way through it as Suetsugu gunned down a runner at the plate on a fielder's choice, Fuzzard fanned a batter and Suetsugu caught a foul out to end the frame.

After the momentum of gaining another life, the Lady Mocs responded quickly as Tydingco singled up the middle and Osterman was hit by a pitch. Traxler doubled to left center plating the first run. A single through the right side by Suetsugu stretched the lead to 2-1.

Following a walk to Dutton to load the bases, Poteat singled to the shortstop, who held the ball and had no play to score Traxler. Singling to left field was Willis, driving in two and taking second as the ball trickled away from the outfielder. Adding two more runs was Fuzzard, who drove a double down the left field line.

Entering into the game was freshman pinch runner Haylee Blalock (Chattanooga, Tenn.) for Fuzzard, who advanced to second on a ground out and eventually scored the eighth run of the frame on a double by Osterman. The inning look rather similar to the Lady Mocs last season that led the nation in batting average.

Yielding a lead-off hit in the top of the third was Fuzzard to Aurelia Gamch, but three fly outs ended the threat.Starting the bottom-half was Willis, drawing a walk, before Fuzzard blasted her first home run of the season to right field. Morimoto followed with a double but was stranded.

The Wildcats left Sabrina Ferguson, who doubled and took third on a groundout, on base.

Chattanooga's fourth began as Traxler beat out a single to short and pinch-hitter Roberts  went with the pitch and deposited her first hit as a Lady Moc down the right field line. Another player in sophomore pinch hitter Stephanie Rieck (Chandler, Ariz.) was given an opportunity off the bench and drew a walk. She moved to third on Poteat's two-RBI single through the right side as the Lady Mocs padded their lead to 12-0.

Fuzzard's shutout was broken up in the fifth as a hit-by-pitch and walk put two runners on before Tafoya singled to third to load the bases. Michelle Banuelos-Smith drove in the lone run on a sacrifice fly before a fly out to center ended the game.

Bethune-Cookman was led by Tafoya with two hits, while Shanel Tolbert tossed the complete game and struckout one.

Game Two: Chattanooga 5, Florida A&M 3

The Lady Mocs started the first with Willis advancing to first on a ball that the shortstop dropped in shallow left, where she was able to take second. Willis moved up to third on a deep fly out by Fuzzard and scored on a wild pitch before Morimoto walked.

Deason, the freshman, had a rough start to the first as an error on the first batter allowed for a runner at second, then Ashanti Shepherd beat out a bunt single to Morimoto, placing runners on the corners. A failed pickoff attempt enabled Jasmine Donaldson to tie the game at one.

Following a walk and Whitney Roninson single though the right side, the Rattlers had the bases loaded as Aria Stewert singled up the middle to take a 2-1 lead. FAMU would add another on a bases-loaded walk, but Chattanooga got out of the threat down just 3-1 following a fielder's choice to third with a putout recorded at home and ground out to short.

Chattanooga looked to get back into the game as Traxler tagged a pitch to straight-away center, but centerfielder Donaldson robbed a home run with a leaping catch at the fence. Roberts followed it up with a  two-out double to center, but would be stranded.

Settling down after a long first inning was Deason, who struck out the final two batters of the frame looking.

A new style of offense showed itself in the third as Chattanooga manufactured a run. Poteat led off the inning by beating out a single to the second baseman up the middle and Fuzzard singled through the left side for the RBI as Poteat slid around the catcher to cut the deficit to 3-2. Sophomore Layne Rainey (Clarksville, Tenn.) came into pinch run for Fuzzard and advanced to third on a ground out and passed ball before the Rattlers retired the side.

With one out in the fourth, Roberts singled up the middle and stole her first-career base. A single through the right side followed it up by Dutton, who advanced to third on the right fielder's throw that erased Roberts at home. Chattanooga's threat to tie it ended on a ground out as it left a runner at third for the second-consecutive inning.

The lone blemish for Deason following the first inning was in the fourth as a fielding error allowed for a runner to reach base and take second on a sacrifice bunt.

Leading off the fifth for the Lady Mocs, Willis singled to center and alertly took second as the center fielder hesitated in picking up a grounder. She took third on a passed ball enabling for Fuzzard to drive her in with a sacrifice fly that was dropped by the right fielder.

With Fuzzard on second after the play, Morimoto moved her up a base with a fly out to right field. She later scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyidingco to right center. Chattanooga took the lead, 4-3, by manufacturing runs and capitalizing on mistakes by FAMU.

Both teams were quite until the seventh when Tydingco connected on a solo shot to center, which was a big run for the team, extending the lead to two, 5-3.
Deason earned the victory as she recorded the final out on a grounder back to her, which she picked up and threw to first.