A frustrating Friday turned into a satisfactory Saturday and a sunny Sunday for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team.
UTC finished its five games in the Frost Classic presented by Ruby Falls with an 8-2 victory over Northern Kentucky in Jim Frost Stadium, as Kailey Palazzolo pitched a three-hitter and the Mocs scored six runs in the first inning. They were ahead 8-0 before the right-hander from Chino, Calif., allowed a hit.
After losing in five innings in their second game Friday, the Mocs won in six against Miami of Ohio and lost 6-2 to 18th-ranked Kentucky on Saturday, and coach Frank Reed acknowledged that his team “played better” than the day before. That started with a 10-run fourth inning against Miami.
“And we only had two hits against Kentucky in a 6-2 game, but I felt like we put a lot of balls in play,” Reed said in a school release Saturday night. “We needed to have a good showing today, and I think we got that.”
His only complaint Sunday was that the Mocs didn’t stay as aggressive offensively as they began. After adding two runs in the second inning to their six-run start, they got no runs and only three of their nine hits in their last four at-bats.
“All in all I can’t be disappointed. From where we were Friday to where we are now, we made some great strides,” Reed said. “We were able to score some runs for the fans, and we had good crowds last night and today. I think this is going to be an exciting team down the road, but of course now we’ve got to go on the road and keep working.”
UTC (11-5) plays the next three weekends in tournaments in Starkville, Miss.; Charleston, S.C.; and Clearwater, Fla. A March 9 date against Lipscomb will be the only home appearance during that time.
Sam Taylor led off the bottom of the first inning Sunday with the first baseman bobbling her bouncer and getting to the base too late, and then Alyssa Taylor beat out a bunt and Jordan Fortel lined a double off the fence in right-center field. Anyssa Robles walked and Ashley Conner followed a force-out at home with an RBI walk, just ahead of Jesslyn Stockard’s two-run single up the middle. Sam Taylor made it 6-0 with a two-out two-run hit through the right side.
Fortel began UTC’s second at-bat with a single, and Robles and Conner walked before Stockard singled in Fortel and Katie Corum hit a sacrifice fly.
Stockard was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Zahyra McFarland tripled and scored in the fourth and Dani Devlin homered in the seventh for Northern Kentucky (1-9).
“It’s definitely nice to get some runs early,” Palazzolo said. “I feel like I’m starting to get in a groove, but getting runs helps and the defense is definitely helping out. We’re starting to play as a team.”
– Delta State 7, Lee 2: At Cleveland, Miss., the Lady Statesmen completed a Gulf South Conference sweep and are 17-4, 9-0 in the league. Lexie Dean and Rachel Polacek had RBI singles and Polacek and Amanda Lynn each had two hits for Lee (9-10, 2-7). Lynn is batting .441 with nine stolen bases.
– Maryville 6-8, Covenant 5-1: Saturday at Maryville, the hosts rose to 5-5 overall by sweeping the USA South of matchup of Lady Scots as Jessica McMahan went 5-for-7 with four runs scored and two driven in.
Morgan Lane hit a three-run home run and Shannon Schmitt was 2-for-3 in the first game for Covenant (4-3-1).
Bama edges Vols
Nationally 14th-ranked Tennessee lost 6-5 to No. 4 Alabama on Sunday in the Easton Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa despite a two-run homer by Chattanooga resident Shaliyah Geathers from East Hamilton.
The Vols (10-5) whipped Marshall 18-0 on a Matty Moss one-hitter Saturday night, when Meghan Gregg and Megan Greer drove in seven and three runs as each homered among three hits. Geathers went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored. She had one of the Vols’ four hits earlier Saturday in a 1-0 loss to No. 15 Arizona, and she almost had another, the first baseman stabbing her first-inning shot with runners on third and second.