Losses don’t limit Mocs’ excitement
Gorgeous spring sunshine and an electric atmosphere filled Frost Stadium as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team hosted No. 15 Auburn in a nonconference doubleheader Sunday afternoon to close the regular season.
And even though the sell-out crowd of 2,374 — the second-largest in UTC history — watched the home team lose 7-0 and 9-0, coach Frank Reed doesn’t believe it takes away from the momentum the Mocs built the past month or how ready he believes they are for the Southern Conference tournament this week.
“Today wasn’t very indicative of the team that we could be,”
Reed said. “We showed it in a few innings, but nothing went right for us today.
We would love to have won those games, but I don’t think we’ll let it carry over.”
The Mocs played extremely well the past several weeks, coming into Sunday with a 9-5 record — 7-3 in SoCon play — since the beginning of April.
On Sunday, however, UTC (25-28) struggled to get anything going at the plate in either game, managing just five hits and three walks in 47 at-bats against a pitching staff that ranks first in the Southeastern Conference.
“Even though we didn’t have a lot of production, we didn’t struggle with them as much as I thought we would,” Reed said. “We didn’t strike out a lot, and we had some good balls that we just hit right at people.”
One Moc who did have a good day at the plate was senior shortstop Brook Womack, who went 3-for-5 with a walk in six plate appearances. Womack, who prepped at Central, was playing her final home games.
Now the Mocs turn their attention to a trip to Greensboro, N.C., where they will be seeded fourth for the SoCon tournament. They’ll play the opening game, taking on No. 5 seed Samford (18-36) at
“Even though we didn’t have a lot of production, we didn’t struggle with them as much as I thought we would.” — UTC COACH FRANK REED
10 a.m. Wednesday at UNC Greensboro. The tournament runs through Saturday.
“I just wanted to play for my family and everyone that was here and rep Chattanooga,” Womack said. “We’re so ready for next week. Our mental mindset is there, and we know we can win the tournament.”
The Mocs didn’t perform much better inside the circle. In game one, Auburn (40-14) took advantage of control problems for UTC sophomore Celie Hudson. She walked seven in 4 1/3 innings, giving up six runs as she fell to 12-13 this season. Game two starter Allison Swinford (9-12) gave up five runs on nine hits and two walks in five innings.
“Pitching wasn’t good; just too many walks,” Reed said. “We still haven’t gotten back into a rhythm after moving practices around because of final exams, but hopefully today will get us back in it.”
The Mocs wasted their best opportunity to pull ahead of the Tigers. Womack led off the second inning of game two with a double down the left-field line, and Ashley Conner beat out a high chopper to the pitcher to put runners on first and third with nobody out.
After Emma Sturdivant struck out, third baseman Devan Brown hit a grounder to shortstop. Brown was thrown out at first, and Womack, who froze at third on the ground ball, took off for home on the throw but was caught for the third out.
UNCG (43-11) is the No. 1 seed for the SoCon tournament and received a first-round bye. Mercer (32-17) is seeded second, followed by Furman (38-13), UTC, Samford and East Tennessee State (16-25).
Auburn is the ninth seed for the SEC tournament that starts Wednesday in Columbia, Mo., and will take on Alabama (32-17) at 7:30 EDT.