UTC Mocs logoThe University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team suffered its first loss of the 2015 season Sunday with a 12-1 five-inning loss to No. 19 Auburn in the final game of the Plainsman Invitational in Auburn, Ala.
UTC finished the opening weekend of the season with a respectable record of 4-1 and solid performances on offense and defense.
Senior pitcher Taylor Deason struck out Auburn leadoff batter Tiffany Howard to open the bottom of the first inning, but a hit and a fielding error by Deason got the Tigers rolling, and the scored two runs in the inning and added another in the second inning on a single by Emily Carosone and an RBI double by Kasey Cooper.
Freshman pitcher Cori Jennings came on in relief after Deason gave up a pair of one-out singles in the fourth inning, but the left-hander surrendered RBI hits by Cooper, Branndi Melero and Haley Fagan and a run-scoring groundout by Jade Rhodes. Another run scored on an error to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead heading to the top of the fifth.
With two-outs in the top of the fifth, freshman J.J. Hamill from Gordon Lee High School hit her first collegiate home run to extend the game into the bottom of the inning and avoid the eight-run mercy rule temporarily.
Freshman pitcher Kailey Palazzolo loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and a single by Cooper, and Fagan ended the game with a walkoff grand slam.
Carosone, Cooper and Fagan each had three hits in the win for Auburn (6-0). Fagan had six RBIs while Carosone scored ffour runs and Cooper went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. The Tigers outhit UTC 13-6.
Deason took the pitching loss, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk, but she struck out four batters giving her 20 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings to start the season.
UTC will be back on the road next weekend with five games at the National Training Center Invitational in Clermont, Fla. The Mocs will open play Friday with games agaisnt UMass Lowell and Missouri.
At St. Augustine, Fla., Lee University split two games Sunday at the Flagler Tournament falling 5-6 to the host team in nine innings but bouncing back for a 10-0 five-inning win over Embry-Riddle.
Against Flagler, the Flames (5-1) started strong, scoring an unearned run in the top of the third and four more unearned runs in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. Flagler got on the board in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run by Kayla Fuller, scored three in the fifth and tied the game in the sixth when Troi Volz scored on a passed ball to send the game to extra innings.
Flagler won the game in the ninth on an RBI double by Maddy Murphy.
Lexi Dean led the Flames in the loss, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and shortstop Amanda Lynne went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.
Leigh Beatenbough started for Lee and went five innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Angie Hughes took the loss in relief after giving up two unearned runs on two hits in 3 2/3 innings.
In the second game, Lee scored seven runs on nine hits in the bottom of the third against Embry-Riddle, highlighted by a two-run home run by third baseman Kaylie Drew, and put the game out of reach with a three-run home run by Emily Dagnan in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Dagnan went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored, and Drew, Beatenbough and Amanda Lynn each had two hits.
Hughes started and got the shutout pitching victory, allowing a hit and a walk with four strikeouts.
At Atmore, Ala., Chattanooga State completed a 6-0 opening weekend by beating Lamar State-Port Arthur 14-2, Blinn 3-2 in eight innings and San Jacinto South 18-0 Saturday night and Sunday.
Lindsey Stickrod went 6-for-6 with three home runs, two doubles and six RBIs in the two five-inning games and scored the winning run against Blinn on a Dana Horgan fielder’s choice. Horgan homered and doubled and drove in six runs in Sunday’s game, when Katy Richardson was 2-for-2 with a homer and a double and matched Stickrod’s three RBIs, Courtney Styles homered and had two RBIs and Hanna Manley raised her pitching record to 4-0 with a one-hitter.
Manley allowed no hits in her three innings against LSPA, when Izzy McCurry was 2-for-2 with two doubles and an RBI. Against Blinn, Styles had an RBI and Sharlene Godoy pitched all eight innings, allowing six hits and striking out seven.