The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team is 3-0 for the season and in Kennesaw State's Phyllis Rafter Memorial Tournament after beating Morehead State 6-2 and edging Eastern Illinois 2-1 on Saturday.
Devan Brown and Amanda Beltran each was 2-for-3 with a home run for the Mocs in the first game, Beltran with a three-run shot in the four-run fifth inning that made a winner of freshman pitcher Mariah Ramirez in relief of Allison Swinford. Both Morehead runs off Swinford were unearned.
Brown scored twice along with Aly Walker, Alyssa Coppinger also was 2-for-3 and Taylor Chadwick was 1-for-2 with the first RBI of the day. Emma Sturdivant doubled in the first run of the key fifth inning.
Celie Hudson pitched a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts and Halie Williamson had both RBIs against Eastern Illinois, with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and a single to right field in the top of the seventh. Both brought home Gracey Kruse with an unearned run. The Mocs also totaled three hits.
» At Clearwater, Florida, Lee University won 8-2 over West Chester and 3-2 over Eckerd in the NFCA Leadoff Classic as former third baseman Stevie Baird pitched a six-hitter and Shonna Penney followed with a four-hitter that included one earned run.
Abby McKinney with two RBIs and Kiley Longmire with the other each was 2-for-3 for Lee (6-3) against Eckerd, after Bailey Church, Taylor De Adder and Zoe Miller had two hits apiece against West Chester. Baird helped herself by going 1-for-2 with a two-run double, and Brooklynn Frazier was 1-for-1 with two walks and two runs scored.
» On Lookout Mountain, Covenant College lost 7-4 and 10-0 to visiting Berry, ranked 13th in NCAA Division III.
Erika Mast was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs for Covenant (0-2) in the first game, when Cope Whitaker was 2-for-2 with a run scored and Cassee Wood had a pinch-hit RBI hit and scored. Mast and Madyson Gibbins each was 2-for-3 in game two.
» At Cartersville, Georgia, Cleveland State is 2-1 after its opening day in Georgia Highlands' Border Battle - with a 9-5 win over Andrew, a 4-0 shutout of USC Salkatchie and a 10-8 loss to West Georgia Tech.