For the second day in a row in the Frost Classic they're hosting, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball Mocs followed a loss decided in the final inning with a solid victory.
And for the second day in a row, junior Ashley Conner from Northwest Whitfield High School was the main offensive standout in UTC's win. She was 4-for-4 with two RBI singles in a 6-3 defeat of UT-Martin (10-2) after the Mocs (5-8) lost 4-2 to Western Michigan (5-5) at Jim Frost Stadium.
UTC faces Saint Louis at 12:30 p.m. today.
Also against UT-Martin, freshman outfielders Hayleigh Weissenbach and Aly Walker in the first and third lineup spots were a combined 4-for-7 with two RBIs and three runs. Senior Jesslyn Stockard and junior Brook Womack each had a hit and an RBI.
Maddy Adams, the freshman infielder who's become a regular in the Mocs' pitching rotation, got her first college win with three innings of four-hit pitching between Payten Price's three innings with three hits and two runs and Alex Connell's hitless seventh inning for her third save.
Connell pitched the first five innings and Price the last two against Western Michigan, which earlier Saturday lost 7-5 to Northwestern State - UTC's Friday victim - and each of those two freshmen gave up one earned and one unearned run.
The Mocs scored both of their runs against the Broncos in the third inning, on doubles past the shortstop by Walker and Conner, but were thwarted from getting more at the time by second baseman Kaylen Glenfield's layout stab of a hard Stockard liner.
Shaky UTC defense in the fourth allowed WMU to tie the score at 2, and there it remained until No. 3 Broncos batter Kelsea Cichocki homered off the top of the fence in right field with one out in the seventh inning. A walk, a sacrifice bunt and the Mocs' fifth error of the game made it 4-2.
J.J. Hamill was 2-for-3 for UTC, and Cichocki and Marlee Wilson each was 2-for-3 for WMU.
Conner's 5-for-7 day raised her team-high batting average to .474, and she also leads the Mocs with 18 hits, 12 RBIs, four homers and 33 total bases. Walker was 3-for-6 and is hitting .378, and Hamill is at .317 after going 3-for-5 and stealing three bases in three tries.
- At Cleveland, Tenn., Lee University earned two Gulf South Conference home wins against Delta State, 10-6 and 9-5, as leadoff batter Stevie Baird went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and 2-for-3 with a three-run home run and Bailey Church hit a game-ending grand slam in game two.
Also in the second game, Kayla Louie was 2-for-3 and scored twice for Lee (12-5, 3-2), and she began the five-run seventh inning with a single. In game one, the Lady Flames' Taylor Moran was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, Courtney Crawford had two RBIs and Zoe Miller was 1-for-1 and scored twice.
- At Jackson, Miss., Millsaps beat Sewanee 18-0 and 14-0 in a Southern Athletic Association doubleheader. Miranda Townsend was 3-for-4 for the day in defeat.
- At Young Harris, Ga., on Friday, Katie Pritchett from Heritage High School had a double and two RBIs in Carson-Newman's 5-2 win over Georgia College and was 1-for-1 with two walks in the Lady Eagles' 6-2 loss.