After knocking off No. 22 South Alabama 3-1 late Friday night, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team kept up its momentum with two wins Saturday in the second day of the South Alabama Invitational in Mobile, Ala.
UTC (10-4) opened Saturday with a 7-2 win over Jacksonville and later beat Sam Houston State 5-2.
Against Jacksonville, the Mocs pounded out 10 hits — including home runs by Sam Taylor and Nicole Osterman — to build a 6-0 lead through four innings and roll to the easy victory. Osterman went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and Sam Taylor was 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, while senior Sarah Beth Roberts was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.
Senior pitcher Taylor Deason continued the strong start to her season, pitching a three-hitter with five strikeouts to improve to 5-1 on the season.
Freshman Cori Jennings (3-1) threw a five-hitter with six strikeouts against Sam Houston (5-9), and the Mocs led 5-0 before the Texas team score. Shortstop Alyssa Taylor and center fielder Sam Taylor each doubled and singled, drove in a run and scored one, and Criket Blanco and Anyssa Robles had two hits apiece as well. UTC scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning, when the Taylors, Marina Wilkerson and J.J. Hamill had RBIs.
Against South Alabama on Friday, Jennings allowed a run in the first inning but shut down the Jaguars for the rest of the game. The left-hander allowed seven hits and four walks while striking out five in her second collegiate win.
The Mocs took the lead in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Blanco and added a solo homer by Osterman in the top of the sixth.
UTC will wrap up play at Mobile this morning with its second game of the weekend against Ball State. The Mocs will make their home debut next weekend as the host team of the Frost Classic.
* At Cathedral City, Calif., 10th-ranked Tennessee lost 4-3 to Utah and 5-2 to Nebraska to fall to 11-3 after starting the season 11-0. Meghan Gregg hit a solo home run and Taylor Koenig had a two-run homer for the Lady Vols against Utah (10-4), and Scarlet McSwain was 2-for-3 with a homer and both RBIs against the Cornhuskers.
* At Montgomery, Ala., in the AUM/Faulkner Invitational, Bryan College dropped to 3-5 by losing 7-5 to Middle Georgia State, 9-4 to 2014 NAIA champion Auburn-Montgomery and 11-1 to Faulkner.
* At Tallahassee, Fla., ninth-ranked Tallahassee Community College beat fourth-ranked Chattanooga State 6-1 and 5-3, dropping the Lady Tigers to 9-5 after they brought a 9-1 record into the weekend. Tallahassee is 11-2.
* Lee University’s Gulf South Conference three-game series with Alabama-Huntsville was moved from Saturday and today in Cleveland to today and Monday in Huntsville.