Blevins blasts two homeruns as Lady Mocs split in final day at USF Under Armour Invitational

Central Michigan vs. Chattanooga Boxscore

CLEARWATER, Fla. ? Freshman pitcher Kandice Irwin (Knoxville, Tenn.) pitched 5.1 scoreless innings in the early game and freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.) blasted two homeruns in the night cap to help give Chattanooga (13-11) a split in its final two games at the USF Under Armour Invitational Saturday evening at Eddie C. Moore Sports Complex. UTC defeated Central Michigan (6-9) 5-0 in the opener and fell to Villanova (5-4) 6-4 in the tournament finale.

The Lady Mocs got on the scoreboard early against Central Michigan, notching three runs on RBI singles by freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Blevins and junior third baseman Toni Hutchison (Madison, Tenn.) to go ahead 3-0. Irwin was masterful over the games first five innings, shutting out the Chippewas and allowing only a first inning single.

That changed in the sixth inning as an error and a double put two CMU base runners in scoring position with only one out. At that point, sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) came in in relief and was dominant as she struck out not only the next two batters to get out of the inning but five of the six batters she faced.

Hutchison added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning when she powered her third homerun of the season over the left centerfield fence to make it 5-0. She finished the day 2-for-4 with a double, homerun, two runs and two RBIs while senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) went 2-for-4 with her sixth double of the season and scored a run.

Freshman outfielder Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) contributed a 2-for-3 performance with two steals and a run scored while Blevins and junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) each went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

Loudermilk collected her second save of the season while Irwin picked up the win, striking out four batters, to improve to 6-4 on the season. Together, they combined to pitch a three-hit shutout. Junior pitcher Ali Pettit suffered the loss for Central Michigan and dropped to 3-4 on the season.

Tembey got the Lady Mocs off to a strong start in the nightcap against Villanova as she led off the game with her third triple of the season before solid Wildcat pitching got them out of the inning. Villanova responded in the bottom of the inning, advancing their lead off batter to third base before taking a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch.

The score would remain that way until the top of the fourth inning when Katie Blevins drilled her eighth homerun of the season, a mammoth shot to left center, to tie the game at 1-1. The Wildcats regained the lead in the their half of the inning as sophomore Eryn Teague powered her first homerun of the season out to left center to make it 2-1, Villanova.

They would add to their lead the following inning as they once again manufactured a run when freshman Allie Heon scored from third on a wild pitch before Chattanooga rallied with two outs in the bottom of the inning. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases and set the stage for the Lady Mocs as freshman outfielder Lauren Flores (Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.) came to the plate as a pinch hitter.

After fouling away several pitches, Flores then drove a ball through the left side of the infield for a 2-RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. UTC was unable to capitalize on another walk that reloaded the bases as the Wildcats got of the inning with a strikeout.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Villanova's bats came to life as the Wildcats scored three runs behind four singles and a sacrifice bunt to regain the lead, 6-3, heading into the top of the seventh. Following two quick outs to lead off the inning, Blevins got the Lady Mocs closer as she ripped a line drive homerun out to straight away centerfield to make it 6-4. That would be as close as UTC would get however as the Wildcats then closed out the two-run victory.

Junior Laura Determan went the distance as she struck out six batters to collect the win and move to 3-2 on the season while Michelle Fuzzard took the loss in relief to fall to 1-2. Teague went 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI for Villanova while freshman pinch hitter Becky LaMarca went 1-for-1 with two RBIs. Heon finished the night 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Blevins led the offensive attack for Chattanooga as she posted a 2-for-4 performance with two homeruns, two runs and two RBIs while Tembey was 2-for-3 with a triple and her fifth stolen base in as many tries. Flores added two RBIs with her sixth inning single and sophomore catcher Brittany Eason (Chattanooga, Tenn.) added two solid singles to go 2-for-2.

Loudermilk went five innings for the Lady Mocs and struck out seven batters to raise her season total to 77 in 61.2 innings pitched. She finished with a total of 12 strikeouts in 6.2 inngs on the evening with her relief appearance in the Central Michigan game.

Blevins continues to lead the team with nine homeruns following her first two-homer performance and also currently leads the team with 22 RBIs and a .926 slugging percentage.

The Lady Mocs return to action on Wednesday, March 12 when they travel to South Fort Myers, Florida for a double-header with Florida Gulf Coast University at 3 p.m.

NOTES

Loudermilk's second save of the season gives her four for her career, placing in a tie for 6^th all-time in Lady Mocs history ... Tembey's third triple of the season gives her 16 for her career, tying her with April Miller (1994-96) for second place on Chattanooga's all-time triples list ...Tembey's steal in the nightcap gives her 22 for her career and moves her into a three-way tie for seventh all-time at Chattanooga ... with her nine homeruns so far this season, Katie Blevins is currently tied for eighth on the Lady Mocs single-season all-time homeruns list and is two homeruns away from breaking into the top-10 career list.

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Players Mentioned

Brittany Eason

Lauren Flores

Toni Hutchison

Kandice Irwin

Michelle LaCourse

Brooke Loudermilk

Lyndsey Stiles

Laci Upchurch

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