UTC clubs Charleston in SoCon final, 11-2

UTC senior pitcher Nikki Waters was the winning pitcher Saturday in the Lady Mocs’ 11-2 win over College of Charleston in the Southern Conference softball tournament championship game. Waters won three games in the tournament and struck out 14 opposing batters. Contributed Photo by Dale Rutemeyer

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga avenged its only leagues losses and earned its 11th Southern Conference softball tournament championship with an 11-2 win over College of Charleston in five innings Saturday in Statesboro, Ga.

“Just coming out on top and getting that win is awesome,” senior third baseman Tiffany Baker said. “Because now we know that we’re truly the best team in this conference, and we’re going to represent our conference and what it means to be in our conference.”

UTC (42-12) outscored its opponents 35-3 in its four tournament games, and the pitching staff held opposing batters to an .092 average.

The Lady Mocs’ only conference losses in the regular season were in a three-game sweep at Charleston on April 16-17, and junior pitcher Michelle Fuzzard said beating the Cougars in the tournament final was especially satisfying.

“I think we had a point to prove, and we responded,” she said. “I said that we wanted to face them again, and I think we all felt that way. They were the one team that we had something to prove to them.”

The Cougars (37-21) struck first Saturday with two runs in the top of the second inning. They loaded the bases against Fuzzard, forcing UTC coach Frank Reed to go to his bullpen early and call on senior Nikki Waters, who had started and won in UTC’s wins Thursday and Friday.

“Before the game, Coach Reed said ‘everyone be ready’ because you never know what’s going to happen,” Waters said. “So I was just focused like I was going to go in anyhow and took it from there. When I was needed, I just wanted to get the job done.”

Waters was on her game again. After giving up a two-run single by Lizzy Vaughn, she allowed only one walk and struck out seven. In the tournament, the former Soddy-Daisy star allowed only four hits and struck out 14 in 15 1/3 innings.

“This is very special,” Waters said. “It’s amazing that this is my senior year and I transferred home [after two seasons at Southern Illinois], and I’m where I want to be and I love these girls. It’s just an awesome feeling.”

With Waters keeping the Cougars offense in check, the UTC offense began to get rolling. Junior shortstop Jessica Traxler had an RBI hit in the bottom of the second to cut Charleston’s lead to 2-1, and the Lady Mocs took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third, junior catcher Vivian Morimoto smacking a two-run double for the go-ahead runs.

UTC broke the game open in the fourth with seven runs on seven hits, highlighted by Fuzzard’s three-run home run off SoCon pitcher of the year Alexa Datko.

“I was tired of her beating me,” Fuzzard said of Datko. “We had been making contact but nothing solid when we played them a few weeks ago. So I wasn’t going to get beat by her again.”

Sophomore second baseman Sara Poteat was selected as the tournament’s most outstanding player after going 7-for-14 with an RBI and four runs scored.

“I had a broke finger, so I really didn’t want to hit the ball hard because that’s when it really hurt,” Poteat said. “So I was just trying to tap it, and I guess I found what worked.”

Joining Poteat on the all-tournament team were Fuzzard, Morimoto, Waters and outfielder Della Harrison.

Poteat said she’s thrilled to be getting a chance to play in her first NCAA tournament.

“It’s super exciting for me because this is my first experience with anything like this,” said the sophomore from Thomaston, Ga. “Everyone’s talking about the [NCAA tournament] selection show, and I have no idea about any of that stuff. So it’s exciting for me, but I feel like we’re just getting started really.”

The Lady Mocs and their fans will gather tonight at 9:30 at Taco Mac to watch the show on ESPNU, starting at 10, and find out their site and opponent for the region round beginning Thursday.

Waters said Saturday that she thinks UTC can compete with any team in the country.

“I think we can go as far as we are able to, if we perform,” she said. “In the fall we played Alabama, and we stuck with them and almost beat them. And against Georgia [earlier this season], we stuck with them and almost beat them. Everybody is human beings, and we are as good as they are.”