UTC Softball Swept In Chattanooga Challenge Saturday

  • Friday, February 16, 2018
J.J. Hamill swings for UTC.
J.J. Hamill swings for UTC.
photo by M. A. Locke
 The Chattanooga Mocs softball team couldn’t get the bats going on a cold Friday afternoon as they fell in two games during the second day of the Chattanooga Challenge at Frost Stadium.

The Mocs dropped an 8-0 contest to Sacred Heart early in the day before falling in a close 3-2 game to Indiana State. UTC registered only four hits in each of the games.

After the pair of losses, Chattanooga falls to 3-4 on the season. They’ll face Western Kentucky in a single game tomorrow at 3 p.m.
at Frost Stadium before closing out the Chattanooga Challenge against Tennessee State on Sunday at 9 a.m.

For all tournament information including schedule changes, box scores, live stats links and more, please visit out Tournament Central page. Follow @GoMocsSB on Twitter for the most up-to-date information.

Sacred Heart 8, Chattanooga 0

Much like yesterday’s contest, the Mocs allowed a big first inning from their opponent. Sacred Heart plated three runs in the top of the first on just three hits and were helped by a Mocs error and two walks. Chattanooga had to make a pitching change in the first inning for the second-straight game.

The Mocs were kept off the scoreboard before SHU added another run in the top of the fourth on a solo homerun over the left field fence to make it 4-0. The Pioneers would add four runs, three of them unearned, in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 8-0. UTC couldn’t score in the home half to fend off the mercy rule.

Chattanooga totaled only four hits on the offensive side with four different players collecting a single hit. Brook Womack had the only extra-base hit for UTC when she smoked a double to the left center gap, finishing 1-for-2 in the game. Hayleigh Weissenbach, J.J. Hamill and Aly Walker all registered singles in the defeat.

 

Indiana State 3, Chattanooga 2

Both teams were held off the board for the first three innings of the game with Indiana State collecting the only two hits during that span. The Sycamores scored the game’s first runs in the top of the fourth when they loaded the bases with no outs and were hit by a pitch. The Mocs limited the damage to only two runs when sophomore Amy Lewis threw out a would-be scorer at the plate to end their threat.

Chattanooga answered ISU’s two runs with a pair of their own in the bottom of the fifth. The Mocs loaded the bases with no outs before Amanda Beltran roped a two-run double off the fence in right field to tie the game up, 2-2. UTC stranded runners on second and third to end the inning.

Indiana State re-gained their lead, 3-2, in the top of the sixth when they loaded the bases and pushed across a run on a ground out to second base.

Aly Walker and Hayleigh Weissenbach belted back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom half of the sixth, but the Mocs went down swinging in consecutive batters to end their threat. UTC nearly tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when Ashley Conner drove a ball deep over the fence down the left field line. The ball barely hooked before the pole and was called foul. The Mocs couldn’t put together a rally and fell 3-2.

Once again, the offense was stagnant in the defeat. For the second-straight game, UTC collected four hits as a team. Walker led the way with a 2-for-3 performance while Weissenbach and Beltran each collected a hit. Celie Hudson (1-2) suffered the loss in the circle after tossing all seven innings, allowing five hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out five.
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