MACON, Ga. — The Chattanooga softball team split its games on the first two days of the Mercer University Bear Classic over the weekend, but the Lady Mocs captured the tournament title with Sunday’s 5-2 win over Northern Kentucky.
UTC’s Taylor Deason notched her ninth win of the season Sunday, striking out seven while scattering five hits in seven innings of work, and senior Sara Poteat, along with junior Stephanie Rieck, each collected a pair of hits. Freshman Jenny Garcia and junior Tyler Templet both finished with runs batted in.
The Lady Mocs struck first in the second inning, as Reick reached on a NKU fielding error—one of six on the afternoon—then advanced to second on Ninjja Suetsugu sacrifice bunt. A groundout by Kati Dutton moved Rieck to third, and she scored on the Norse’s second blunder of the inning.
Northern Kentucky plated a pair of runs in the fourth, taking a 2-1 lead, but Chattanooga knotted things up at 2-2 in the bottom half with Garcia’s RBI-single to score Rieck.
The Lady Mocs tacked on three more runs in the sixth. An NKU throwing error put Suetsugu on first, and Templet’s pinch-hit double scored pinch-runner Yoshi Hooks from first. A fielder’s choice from Alyssa Taylor scored Templet, and Poteat later scored on yet another Norse error.
UTC travels to Clearwater, Fla., this weekend, where it’ll face Toledo, Wagner, Villanova, Loyola Marymount and Temple in the USF Under Armour Tournament. The Lady Mocs open Southern Conference play the following week at Furman.