It’s been a long set of road trips to start the season for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team, but the Mocs finally are ready to make their home debut this weekend when UNC Greensboro comes to Frost Stadium to open Southern Conference play.
UTC will play a doubleheader against the Spartans starting at 3 p.m. today and will wrap up the series with a single game Sunday at 2 p.m. The American Sports Network is televising today’s first game.
The Mocs’ home opener was put off a few weeks when the Frost Classic was canceled after a snowstorm hit Chattanooga on Feb. 27. UTC (17-8) spent the past two weekends at tournaments in Florida, going 6-3, and lost 4-2 at Georgia State in Atlanta on Tuesday.
“We haven’t been on our field in forever,” UTC coach Frank Reed said Thursday. “Not even for practice, so (this weekend) will almost be like an away game for us trying to figure out our routine. You get into a routine for how you do home and away games, so it’s going to be different.
“After being on the road so long, it’s good to be back home. Our fans, I know, are thinking we’re never going to come home; they think we’re an away team.”
UTC has a couple of wins over ranked teams so far, having beat then-No. 22 South Alabama and No. 25 Kansas, with freshman Cori Jennings getting the pitching victory in each.
“I feel really good,” the left-hander said. “We’ve been working really hard, and I’m excited to see where the rest of the season will go.”
“I think the caliber of teams we’ve played has helped us along the way, so we will be ready when conference time comes.”
The Mocs have had to patch together a lineup because of injuries. First baseman Jesslyn Stockard has not played this season, and pitcher Katie Henderson will miss the entire season because of injury. The injury has forced Jennings and fellow freshman Kailey Palazzolo to back up senior Taylor Deason.
“I’m still concerned about injuries,” Reed said. “We’re not going to get Henderson back for sure, and we may get Stockard back to see what she can do. It just puts us in a situation where you have to move people around.
“It’s of more concern heading into conference play because I was hoping we’d be four pitchers strong and we could throw somebody different every day. We still have three, but we don’t want to get into a situation where we’re having to throw somebody twice. But that may be the case depending on how successful they are.”
With a solid start to the season under their belts, the Mocs will turn their focus to SoCon play and their attempt to defend their tournament championship from last season.
“I feel fairly good, but this is conference,” Reed said. “If you look across the conference, there’s really nobody playing badly, and everyone steps up for conference play.
“I’ve been plesently surprised at the way we’ve played. People have stepped up and filled some gaps, so hopefully we can keep everybody healthy.”
Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.