The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is headed to the title round of the Southern Conference softball tournament in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where coach Frank Reed’s team needs just one more win to complete a sweep of the league championships for the 2025 season.
The final obstacle for the top-seeded Mocs will be a Mercer team that has been punching above its weight over the first three days of the tourney, with the fifth-seeded Bears fighting through the elimination bracket for a second shot at the regular-season champions.
After needing two extra innings to beat the Bears on Thursday, UTC didn’t experience the same type of close call Friday while defeating third-seeded Samford 8-3 at Wofford College’s Hope Field. The Mocs, who improved to 41-13 overall this season, used a six-run third inning — despite generating just two hits in the frame — to build a five-run advantage against the Bulldogs and cruised from there in the winners-bracket final.
Samford was ousted hours later, falling to 33-23 with a 13-5 loss to Mercer in the final game of the elimination bracket. Mercer (36-24) avoided elimination for the second time Friday, having set up the meeting with Samford by taking down second-seeded UNC Greensboro 7-3.
Saturday’s title matchup is set for 1 p.m., with Mercer needing to beat UTC twice for the league tournament championship and an automatic bid in next week’s NCAA regionals. A second game, if necessary, would also be played Saturday.
The Mocs need just one win against the Bears, who rallied from a 7-0 deficit after five innings Thursday against UTC to force extra innings before losing 8-7 in nine.
UTC had just five hits Friday against Samford — two by Camryn Cernuto, who also scored twice — but took advantage of the Bulldogs’ trouble with control as seven batters reached base via walk or after being hit by a pitch. The Mocs also benefited from three Samford errors, all of which came in the decisive third inning in which 10 UTC batters went to the plate.
The Mocs trailed 3-2 coming into the third; they led 8-3 going out, which gave Peja Goold — who entered in relief of Taylor Long — a significant cushion to work with on the scoreboard. And the two-time SoCon pitcher of the year delivered, striking out three batters and scattering three hits in the final five innings to improve to 25-6 this season.
Mercer has guaranteed itself the rare opportunity of playing both the first and last game in the SoCon tournament.
After a regular season in which the Bears went just 11-9 in SoCon play — including a pair of home losses to UTC, 2-1 and 6-0, with the scheduled third game of the series rained out — they won their opener at the league tournament Wednesday against No. 8 seed Furman, 11-7, then defeated No. 4 Wofford hours later, 5-2.
After the loss to UTC, which had a bye into Thursday’s play, the Bears bounced back with an 11-3 win against seventh-seeded East Tennessee State to advance to Friday.
Another NIT championship
Following in the footsteps of the Mocs men’s basketball program that won the National Invitation Tournament last month, the UTC men’s tennis team finished first Friday at the UTR Sports National Invitational Tennis Championship, which was held in Northwest Georgia’s Rome Tennis Center.
The Mocs finished the season with a 15-11 mark after coming out on top at the seven-team NIT Championship. It was the third edition of the tournament, which was created in 2023 “to allow men’s and women’s teams to gain valuable postseason experience,” according to the event’s website.
Liberty and Tulsa have been the other winners of the men’s championship.
UTC, which received a bye in the quarterfinals, beat North Carolina Central 4-3 in Thursday’s semifinals and topped Saint Mary’s (California) 4-2 for the title. UTC junior Cortland Grove earned the decisive win at No. 4 singles on Friday and was named MVP of the tournament.
Compiled by Gene Henley. Contact him at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.