UTC's Taylor Deason pitches during the Mocs' second double-header softball game against Western Carolina on Saturday, April 18, 2015, at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga.Last week's heavy rainfall left the outfield at Frost Stadium soggy and five or six inches of water in the home dugout, but there's no stopping the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team in Southern Conference play lately.
The Mocs won 7-1 and 8-3 Saturday against Western Carolina in the first two games of a scheduled three-game series.
After Thursday's scheduled doubleheader with UAB was canceled with heavy rainfall, there were some worries about this weekend's important league games. But the grounds crew at Warner Park had the stadium field ready to play and looking good.
"The field is amazing," UTC coach Frank Reed said. "Tell me anywhere in the country where we can get six inches of rain and then be able to play. We had a little issue with the water draining out and it was backing up into the dugout, but the field guys did an amazing job getting it ready, and the infield was perfect."
The Mocs (29-9, 10-1) dominated in the first game with freshman lefty Cori Jennings pitching a four-hitter and first baseman Jesslyn Stockard going 2-for-4 with three RBIs as she continues to play well after missing the early part of the season with a broken finger.
Reed was happy to get a complete game out of Jennings, although he thinks she has room to improve before postseason play begins.
"I still think Cori is not right where she was early in the season," he said. "We're still having a little trouble with her changeup. We feel like it's a little up.
"But when she's got it on target, she's tough to hit, and we needed a full game out of her."
UTC 3rd baseman Sarah Beth Roberts bats during the Mocs' second double-header softball game against Western Carolina on Saturday, April 18, 2015, at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga.In the second game, a couple of errors had UTC senior pitcher Taylor Deason trailing 1-0 in the first inning, but she worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam and the Mocs got the lead back with two runs in the bottom of the first. They never trailed after that. Nicole Osterman and Criket Blanco had three hits each, and catcher Anyssa Robles hit a solo home run.
"Overall I think we played good," Deason said. "We didn't play our best game, but we found a way to win. We made a couple of errors in the beginning, and we've had times where we would have folded. Today we overcame it, and we took a few steps up.
"I think that really shows how much our team has grown in the past couple of months."
Deason allowed two runs in the fifth and was relieved by freshman Kailey Palazzolo, who pitched the last two innings for the save.
"Taylor said she was feeling a little tired in her arm, and now's not the time to take a chance on that," Reed said. "We had a fresh pitcher sitting there. When (Palazzolo) is on, she gives us a totally different look from Cori and from Taylor -- coming in behind Taylor especially."
Freshman J.J. Hamill had a breakout day. The freshman shortstop and former Gordon Lee standout went 5-for-8 in the two wins with three runs scored to raise her batting average from .190 to .230.
"Yesterday, I felt pretty good when I was hitting (in practice)," she said. "Then today when I was warming up my arm felt really good, and I was on point with my bat.
"It actually boosts my confidence up a lot. I've been really nervous -- like super nervous. Now I'm just trying to get comfortable, and now that I am getting comfortable it's starting to come back like natural."
With the threat of rain putting today's series finale, scheduled for 2 p.m., in jeopardy, getting two wins Saturday was important to the Mocs holding onto their lead in the SoCon regular-season race. Reed still thinks they could be more efficient, as UTC stranded 18 baserunners Saturday despite scoring 15 runs on 22 hits.
"That's good that we won and had all those hits, but we could have ended both of those games in five innings and didn't take advantage of it," he said. "We're running pretty strong, but I think there's more that we can get out of it."
Contact Jim Tanner at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.
UTC players congratulate catcher Anyssa Robles after she hit a single-run homer in the 2nd inning of the Mocs' second double-header softball game against Western Carolina on Saturday, April 18, 2015, at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga.