After a long weekend which culminated in a Southern Conference tournament championship and a long trip home from Mount Pleasant, S.C., the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team gathered downtown Sunday night to find out where they would be sent for the NCAA tournament starting this weekend.

The Lady Mocs (41-20) will be heading to Tuscaloosa, Ala., regional where they will join No. 3 seed Alabama, Jacksonville State and Florida State in a double-elimination format. UTC will open play Thursday by taking on the host Crimson Tide (51-6).

“I think we match up well with all the teams in the region,” UTC coach Frank Reed said Sunday night after watching the selection show. “We’ll go out and play our game, and who’s to say what might happen. I think this is a perfect region for us to go to.

Just making the 64-team field took a lot of work for a UTC team dominated by freshmen. After losing in the second round to UNC Greensboro, the top-seeded Lady Mocs had to win five games in about 30 hours — including back-to-back wins Saturday afternoon over No. 2 seed Georgia Southern — to claim their eighth SoCon tournament title.

Freshman pitcher and first baseman Michelle Fuzzard said she and her teammates are thrilled with a chance to continue their season.

“Word’s just do not describe,” Fuzzard said. “I am overwhelmed.”

The Lady Mocs’ success in the SoCon tournament was a team effort, and there were plenty of heroes for UTC. Junior outfielder Laci Upchurch continued to provide power for the UTC offense with key home runs in Lady Mocs wins over College of Charleston and UNCG, and redshirt freshman Tiffany Baker’s bat came alive at the right time for the Lady Mocs after a slow start to her first season of college play.

Junior Toni Hutchison plasted a big home run in UTC’s nine-run fifth inning to finish off GSU, and freshman Michelle Fuzzard’s walk-off RBI single kept the Lady Mocs hopes alive in the first game against the Eagles.

“We’ve got so many good people on this team,” Hutchison said. “I don’t have any pressure on me because I know that the people behind me and in front of me are going to get it done.”

But coach Reed gave special credit to UTC’s two seniors, Tara Tembey and Ashlan Clarkson, and sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk for their performances in the tournament.

“You can’t say enough for seniors, especially those two,” Reed said of Tembey and Clarkson. “They’ve put in the extra time and been leaders. That’s what you look for out of a senior.”

Clarkson provided stable leadership for the Lady Mocs, and her RBI double with two outs helped start the nine-run rally that put Georgia Southern away in their final game.

“I was just trying to keep the team up, and not let them get down,” she said. “I wanted to go up there and do the best I could.”

Tembey’s leadership was more apparent in the box scores. For the tournament, the infielder from Folsom, Calif., went 11-for-27 with three home runs and six RBIs. Temby helped the Lady Mocs clinch the tournament crown with two home runs — including a leadoff home run to open the game — in the final game of the tournament.

Loudermilk’s contribution in the tournament is even more impressive. The two-time SoCon pitcher of the year from Locust Grove, Ga., pitched in all seven games and was the winning pitcher in five of UTC’s six wins, only giving way after two innings to freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin for the final victory against Georgia Southern. She pitched three complete games in the tournament, allowing four earned runs while striking out 48 batters and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

UTC pitching coach Lacey Swarthout, a former Lady Moc pitcher, said she is amazed at the success Loudermilk has had in her first two college seasons.

“She just has that attitude like she can go up there and beat anybody,” Swarthout said. “She gives it her all every time she goes out there, and that’s all you can ask.”

With 10 freshmen and five sophomores on the team, UTC will go into NCAA tournament play as an obvious underdog against Alabama.

“I’m excited,” Hutchison said. “We almost beat them last year. Everybody can be beat.”