After wrapping up non-conference tournament play with a 21-7 record, the Chattanooga Mocs softball team gets set to open Southern Conference action this weekend with a three-game series in Greenville, S.C., on the campus of the Furman Paladins.
Chattanooga is coming off a 4-2 week at the USF Invitational in Clearwater, Fla., defeating the likes of Eastern Illinois, Wichita State, LIU Brooklyn and Buffalo. The team went 7-4 in the 11-game spring break trip to Florida.
Furman enters the weekend with an 8-18 mark after dropping contests to Virginia and Georgia Tech this week while splitting a doubleheader with Binghamton on Thursday.
Emily Coltharp was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Monday after her efforts on the field last week.
She batted .500 (9-for-18) with eight runs scored and four RBI while going a perfect 2-for-2 in stolen base attempts.
Coltharp was the first UTC freshman to win the player of the week honor since 2008. She ranks 12th in the SoCon this season with a .319 (23-for-72) batting average.
UTC leads the conference this season in multiple statistical categories including batting average (.313), on-base percentage (.400), RBI (142), ERA (2.55) and opposing batting average (.257).
Aly Walker leads the SoCon with a .398 (33-for-83) batting average and a .510% on-base percentage after the first six weeks of the season. Halie Williamson (5th/.368), Amanda Beltran (6th/.366) and Emma Sturdivant (7th/.360) all rank among the top ten in the league behind Walker.
The pitching staff has been the anchor so far this season; pitching to a league-best 2.55 ERA while limiting opposing batters to a .257 average, also best in the league.
Mariah Ramirez carries a 9-0 record with a 2.53 ERA in 72.0 innings pitched while Celie Hudson is 7-5 with a 2.88 ERA in 73.0 innings of work. Allison Swinford adds a 5-2 record in the circle in 36.0 innings pitched while carrying a SoCon-best 1.36 ERA.