A trio of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga pitchers put on a dazzling performance in the first game of the Southern Conference softball doubleheader Saturday against College of Charleston.
The Lady Mocs won 1-0 in eight innings but fell 4-3 to the Cougars in game two at Jim Frost Stadium.
Brooke Loudermilk, Nikki Waters and Kandice Irwin combined for UTC's first no-hitter since Lacey Swarthout pitched one against Appalachian State on March 15, 2005. The Lady Mocs' last combined no-hitter before Saturday was thrown by Talya Trudell and Beth Alexander in a 2001 win over Marshall.
Loudermilk said using all three UTC pitcher in the first game was the plan from the beginning in preparation for the conference tournament, which will be held Thursday and Friday in Chattanooga.
"I feel like our pitching did a great job in the first game," she said. "We had practiced that all week as to pitching all three of us in one game, and I thought it worked great. We were more focused on that for tournament.
The three combined for seven strikeouts and four walks in the eight innings.
Despite the solid pitching, UTC's offensive struggles continued. Charleston held the Lady Mocs to four hits through seven innings.
UTC catcher Brittany Eason led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single to right field. After Jessica Traxler and Lyndsey Stiles flied out, freshman first baseman Kasey Tydingco singled to move Eason into scoring position to set up senior second baseman Tia Blosser. Blosser hit her second pitch into right field, and Eason beat the throw to the plate to end the game.
Eason went 2-for-3 and Blosser and Tydingco each was 2-for-4 in the win.
"Coach (Jeff) Martin has always preached that we need to put the ball in play, and that's what we did," Eason said. "It would have helped to have had two wins today going into the tournament."
In the second game, the Cougars got nine hits against the same three pitchers who no-hit them. Irwin, who was credited with the win in the no-hitter, took the loss in relief.
Stiles, Kaiti Kelley and Lauren Flores each had two UTC hits in the loss, as the Lady Mocs had several chances to break the game open but couldn't get a key hit. Several mental lapses, including a baserunning mistake by Blosser, kept the Lady Mocs from rallying late.
"This is the same thing I've said all year long," UTC coach Frank Reed said. "We can't hang around and depend on Kandice to win it for us or depend on getting a late hit like we did with Tia in the first game to win it in the eighth inning. It's something that scares me."
UTC will wrap up the regular season today with a single game against Charleston at 2 p.m. The Lady Mocs' five seniors -- Loudermilk, Eason, Blosser, Kelley and catcher Lynleigh Hurndon -- will be honored prior to the game as part of senior day festivities.
n Seats are still available for the softball appreciation dinner to be held Monday in the Hall of Fame Room at McKenzie Arena.
Tickets for the event hosted by the Lady Moc RBI Club are $15 and can be purchased at today's game or by calling Mike Burke at (423) 877-2080 to make a reservation.