The Chattanooga Mocs softball team trumped Middle Tennessee 9-3 Friday evening at Frost Stadium in part one of its two game series with the non-conference foe. Junior Sarah Beth Roberts (Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) led the Mocs to the win over the Blue Raiders with two homeruns in the contest.
Including the win, Head Coach Frank Reed was happy with the two-game situation set for the weekend.
“I think two games this weekend was a great for our schedule,” Reed said. “We needed to keep on our toes going into a crucial SoCon matchup next week and a couple of games at home – split between Friday and Saturday – is a great way of doing that.”
Middle Tennessee got the ball rolling in the first inning with two runs against starting pitcher Katie Henderson (Hixson, Tenn.). A single from leadoff hitter LaRi Mitchell put a runner on and a homerun from Laura Dukes put MTSU up 2-0 early.
Roberts cut into the lead in the second inning with a solo homerun to left field to pull UTC within one run of the lead, 2-1. Roberts delivered again in the very next inning as the junior lifted a towering drive down the leftfield line, wrapping a homer around the foul pole to give Chattanooga a 3-2 lead.
Nicole Osterman (Kissimmee, Fla.) added onto the Mocs lead in the same inning as she drilled a single up the middle into center. Camped out at second in the at-bat, sophomore Alyssa Taylor (Orange, Calif.) came around to score to give Chattanooga a 4-2 advantage.
The third inning saw Chattanooga tack on two more runs with Jesslyn Stockard (Ringgold, Ga.) singling to right. Roberts later walked in her third at-bat to put runners on the corners and an error on a Taylor batted ball allowed two runs to score.
Criket Blanco (Maryville, Tenn.) led the charge in the fourth on a double to left center. With the second baseman on second, Marina Wilkerson (Hogansville, Ga.) laced a single to right to score the sophomore.
Chattanooga wrapped up its scoring in the sixth inning with pinch hitter Jenny Garcia (Miami, Fla.) reaching on a fielder’s choice. Roberts then singled, her third hit of the night, and Garcia came around to score on a throwing error, putting the Mocs up 9-2.
The Blue Raiders made a short run in the seventh with one run on three hits, but reliever Taylor Deason (Clarksville, Tenn.) was able to shut the Middle Tennessee bats down to secure a 9-3 victory. Henderson came away with her 13th win of the season and Chattanooga improved to 25-17 with the win.
The Mocs and Blue Raiders wrap up the set tomorrow at Noon at Frost Stadium.