CLEARWATER, Fla. - The UTC Lady Mocs softball team (13-10) split two games Saturday evening at the USF Under Armour Showcase with a 5-3 win over Loyola Marymount and a 4-1 loss to Villanova.

Chattanooga 1 - Villanova 4
The Lady Mocs dropped their first game of the day to the Villanova Wildcats in a close 4-1 matchup. Both teams finished with just six hits but Villanova recorded its hits when it mattered most.

Both teams were scoreless in the first but the Wildcats struck in the second inning for one run on one hit and an error.

Beth Smetana was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and a groundout advanced the runner to second. A single from third baseman Briana Fujii scored Smetana and Villanova went on top 1-0.

A Chattanooga hit by Sara Poteat (Thomaston, Ga.) bared no runs in the third and the Wildcats were able to add to their lead in the top of the fourth. A run on two hits chased freshman Kaisey Carson (Indianapolis, Ind.) from the game as Taylor Deason (Clarksville, Tenn.) came on in relief mid-inning.

Villanova scored a final insurance run off Deason in the seventh inning to push the Wildcat lead to 4-0. Despite a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, Chattanooga would come up three runs short. The final run in the game came courtesy of senior Ninjja Suetsugu (Sao Paulo, Brazil) as she blasted her first career homerun over the left field fence.

Chattanooga 5 - Loyola Marymount 3
The Lady Mocs rebounded with a win in their second game of the evening with a victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions. Deason went the distance, giving up seven hits through seven innings to record her seventh complete game of the season and 11th win.

Chattanooga struck for three runs in the first inning as Poteat led off with a bunt single. A stolen base put the senior in scoring position and a single from Sarah Beth Roberts (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) drove the second baseman in from second. In the following at-bat, Suetsugu singled in Roberts and an error on the pitcher on a Stephanie Rieck (Chandler, Ariz.) batted ball allowed Suetsugu to score.

The Lady Mocs led 3-0 at the end of three before the Lions gained two runs in the fourth inning. Skylar Segura singled to lead off the inning and Meghan Harman homered to left to cut the UTC lead to one run.

UTC gained back two runs in the fourth inning on two hits, extending the lead to 5-2. Poteat reached on an error and freshman Anyssa Robles (Lawrenceville, Tenn.) took advantage of a second error. With two on, Roberts doubled to right to drive in Poteat. Suetsugu continued her tear in the ensuing at-bat with a single up the middle to bring Robles in from second, pushing the lead to 5-2.

The Lions gave it one last swing in the top of the seventh as Harmon went deep for the second time in the game. This time the homerun was a solo homerun over the right field fence, but that would be all Loyola Marymount could muster up in the final innings.

Chattanooga completes the USF Under Armour Showcase tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. as it takes on Temple. Live audio and stats are available for the game.