Friday didn’t start well for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team, and things only got worse from there.
The Lady Mocs (42-13) managed only one hit and an unearned run in a 4-1 loss to Memphis in the opening game of the Tuscaloosa Regional in the NCAA tournament.
Two of UTC’s top hitters, second baseman Tiffany Baker and designated player Michelle Fuzzard, were sick when they woke up Friday morning, and each had to take fluids by intravenous injection before the game.
“You know things are going to go bad when you start off the morning with your top two hitters in the hospital with IVs,” UTC coach Frank Reed said following the loss. “We started thinking about those two kids being sick and worrying about them. I think we got caught up in that.”
Baker and Fuzzard both were able to play despite their illness, and Baker recorded the Lady Mocs’ lone hit, a double to left center field to set up the team’s only run when Tigers shortstop Heather Mott committed two errors on a ground ball by Vivian Morimoto.