UTC junior Celie Hudson is the 2019 Southern Conference softball pitcher of the year.Hoping to ride the momentum of an exciting final series win over Samford, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team begins play today in the Southern Conference tournament at Jim Frost Stadium.
The third-seeded Mocs (33-14) will face No. 6 seed Furman (13-36) in the day’s final game at 3 p.m., with the winner facing the winner between No. 2 seed Samford and Western Carolina (No. 7) on Thursday at 3.
Also today, No. 4 seed Mercer starts the tournament against fifth seed East Tennessee State at 10 a.m., followed by Samford/WCU at 12:30 p.m. No. 1 seed UNC Greensboro awaits the winner of the Mercer/ETSU game Thursday at 12:30. The winners-bracket final is set for Friday at 12:30, with the championship game(s) scheduled for Saturday at 1.
This is the 11th time for UTC to host the event, the most among SoCon members. The winner claims the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The Mocs are going after their 14th conference tournament title and their 11th NCAA tournament appearance.
UTC, which leads SoCon teams in regular-season victories, improved to 11-7 in league play with a two-day, 26-inning series win over Samford this past weekend at Frost. Game one, which lasted four hours and one minute, was the longest game in program history and took two days (including a weather continuation) to conclude.
After the Bulldogs won that game in extra innings, the Mocs rolled 6-0 in game two before winning another extra-inning game to clinch the series and keep the Bulldogs from earning the tournament top seed.
The conference released its softball postseason awards Tuesday, and UTC junior Celie Hudson continued to rack up the honors by being named the league’s pitcher of the year. Shortstop Emily Coltharp was the SoCon freshman of the year.
Hudson, who is 13-9 with a 1.93 earned run average and five shutouts, is the first Mocs pitcher to win the award since Brook Loudermilk in 2008. She is the 10th in program history to win it.
“We watched her come in and work through an injury just to try and help us out late in her freshman season,” UTC coach Frank Reed stated in a school release. “Just to work through all of that and get to the point where she can be the pitcher of the year in this conference speaks volumes about her and what kind of person she is. The efforts she has put forth have been incredible to watch.”
The Mocs landed eight all-conference selections. First baseman Emma Sturdivant (.349, 35 RBIs) joined Hudson and Coltharp (third in the SoCon with a .355 average) on the first team.
Coltharp is the seventh UTC player to be named the SoCon’s top freshman since 1994, the first since Michelle Fuzzard in 2008.
“Emily came in, and like many freshmen across the country, not knowing what her role would be and how she would fit into the system,” Reed said. “We challenged her early to step up and be that person for us at shortstop, and she has done that and more.”
Pitcher Mariah Ramirez, catcher Amanda Beltran, outfielder Hayleigh Weissenbach and designated players Aly Walker and Morgan Kazerooni were named to the All-SoCon second team, while Ramirez and Coltharp made the all-rookie team.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22