The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ended a successful weekend at the Frost Classic with a 6-1 win over Miami of Ohio on Sunday at Jim Frost Stadium.
With the win, UTC improves its record to 11-3 to open the 2010 season for one of the best starts ever in Lady Mocs softball.
“Maybe this is the most talented team I’ve had that plays as a team,” UTC coach Frank Reed said. “This is pretty neat group of kids.”
The outcome was in doubt early as Redhawks pitcher Jessica Simpson held the Lady Mocs hitless for the first 3 1/3 innings of play, and Alicia Hogl scored an unearned run in the second inning to give Miami a 1-0 lead.
But the Lady Mocs began to figure out Simpson in the second trip through the batting order, taking their first lead on UTC’s first hit of the day — a two-run single by Tia Blosser to score Kaiti Kelley and Michelle Fuzzard, who had drawn walks to start the fourth inning.
“(Simpson) has a very long and deliberate motion, so we had to get the timing on that,” UTC assistant coach Brad Irwin said following the game. “So (assistant) coach (Jeff) Martin and myself moved them up on the plate to force her to keep in out over the plate where we could hit it.”
After getting the lead, UTC starter Brooke Loudermilk ran into a some trouble in the in the top of the fifth inning. Kandice Irwin came on in relief with runners on first and second and no outs, and she ended held Miami scoreless by coaxing three ground outs to end the inning and preserve the lead.
“I like to pitch with a little pressure on myself even if there’s no one on base because I want to be the best,” said Irwin who earned her third save of the season in relief of Loudermilk (7-2). “I just tried to pitch how I pitch in practice and let the defense do the work behind me.”
After that, UTC broke the game open with a two-run single by Fuzzard in the fifth, and Lauren Flores capped the Lady Mocs’ scoring in the sixth when she doubled with Jessica Traxler on base. Redhawks catcher Hogl misplayed the throw to the plate allowing Traxler to score from first and Flores came all the way around to score UTC’s final run on the play.
“We’ve worked on being aggressive on the bases,” said Flores, who 2-for-3 for the game with two runs scored. “As soon as I saw the ball was at the fence I knew I was going. … I was being aggressive on the bases, and it worked out for us.”
UTC will try to continue its successful run this weekend with a trip to Clearwater, Fla., to compete in the Under Armor Invitational at the University of South Florida. The Lady Mocs will open play Friday with games against UMass and Virginia Tech.