Trailing three different times in the game, the Chattanooga Mocs softball team fought off every deficit to claim a 6-5 victory over Evansville in the final day of the Frost Classic at Frost Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Following the win, Chattanooga improves to 7-7 overall this season. Evansville drops to 2-11.
Freshman Kacie Lynch walked off the game with an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the eighth. The RBI was the first of her career.
For the fourth time in the last five games, the Mocs allowed runs in the top half of the first.
Evansville plated three runs, two unearned, in the opening frame to take a quick lead.
Chattanooga answered back in the home half with three runs on four hits and one Purple Aces error. Amanda Beltran roped a two out, two-RBI single up the middle with the bases full to cut the deficit to 3-2. Devan Brown reached on an error by the pitcher to load the bases again before Brook Womack was hit by a pitch, tying the game 3-3.
Evansville re-claimed the lead, 4-3, in the top of the third on a solo homerun to the left field bleachers.
UTC came back and tied the game, 4-4, on a Hayleigh Weissenbach one-out RBI double down the line in right, scoring Amy Lewis who reached on a single to left.
The Purple Aces scored a run in the top of the sixth on a two-out RBI single to right field, breaking the tie and giving them a late 5-4 lead. The Mocs would tie things up, 5-5, in the home half of the inning on a pinch-hit homerun from sophomore Halie Williamson, the first of her career.
The game headed to extra innings and featured the international tie-breaking rule. Each team began the inning by placing a runner at second base.
Freshman pitcher Allison Swinford forced a ground out to third ahead of a strikeout to keep the Aces from scoring. Lynch then drove in the game-winning run from third after an Alyssa Coppinger sacrifice bunt advanced the runner to third with one out.
Swinford (3-1) earned the win in relief of starting pitcher Heidi Hall. Swinford tossed 5.0 innings and allowed just one hit and one run while striking out one. Hall threw three complete innings and allowed three hits and four runs (two earned) while striking out three in her first career start as a Moc.
Weissenbach and Sturdivant both ended the day 3-for-4 at the plate. Weissenbach added her fourth double and eighth RBI of the season in the win. Beltran finished 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs while Williamson went 1-for-2 with a homerun, RBI and two runs scored.
Chattanooga picks up play again in Oxford, Miss., next weekend (March 2-4) at the Ole Miss Invitational. They'll face UT Martin at 10 a.m. and Saint Louis at 12:30 p.m. on Friday's opening day. All game coverage links can be found on the schedule page.