Lady Mocs Win 10th SoCon Tournament Title

No. 1 Chattanooga 7, No. 4 Georgia Southern 2

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? The No. 1 seed Chattanooga Lady Mocs defeated the No. 4 seed Georgia Southern Eagles, 7-2, to win the team’s second-straight and 10^th overall Southern Conference Softball Championship.

The victory was Chattanooga’s second-straight title game win over the Eagles. Georgia Southern has now lost three-straight title games after winning its second tournament title in 2006.

With the game still in doubt entering the seventh inning at 3-2, the Lady Mocs exploded with four runs to seal the title. With the bases loaded, sophomore Michelle Fuzzard notched a single up the middle to bring home Lyndsey Stiles and Tia Blosser. Sophomore Tiffany Baker continued the streak by doubling to left center field plating Della Harrison and Kaiti Kelley.

Georgia Southern attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh loading the bases before the Lady Mocs ended the game with three-straight outs.

With the win, Chattanooga (30-22) advances to the NCAA Tournament at a time and place to be announced tomorrow (Sunday, May 10). Georgia Southern ends its season at 29-25.

Leading the way for the Lady Mocs was Baker who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Fuzzard was 1-for-4, but had two RBIs. In a losing effort, Eagles’ freshman Marie Fogle had a pair of RBIs.

Chattanooga pitcher Kandice Irwin (10-10) picked up the win by pitching four innings of scoreless softball, while GSU’s Kristan Glover (8-5) took the loss.

Georgia Southern pitcher Brianna Streetmon was named the championship’s Most Outstanding Player while Chattanooga had four players honored on the All-Tournament team. Georgia Southern had three, while Appalachian State, Furman and Samford had one each to round out the 10-member team.

After a scoreless first two innings, both teams got on the board in the third inning. In the top of the third, Chattanooga produced three runs starting with Baker’s single to drive in Kelley. Catcher Brittany Eason brought in Baker with a double to right field. Freshman Jenni Martin hit a single that scored Toni Hutchison before Martin was thrown out at second base.

In the bottom half of the inning, Georgia Southern cut the lead to one with two runs. Fogle doubled to left field to score both Michelle Beasley and Nina Iduate.

2009 All-Tournament Team

Appalachian State Kayla Richardson

Furman Abby Robertson

Samford Jessica Owens

Georgia Southern Jenny Side

Georgia Southern Robyne Siliga

Georgia Southern Brianna Streetmon (Most Outstanding Player)

Chattanooga Brooke Loudermilk

Chattanooga Lyndsey Stiles

Chattanooga Kandice Irwin

Chattanooga Michelle Fuzzard

No. 4 Georgia Southern 4, No. 7 Samford 3

SLIDESHOW

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? No. 4 seed Georgia Southern advanced to its fourth-straight Southern Conference Softball Championship game Saturday afternoon by outlasting Samford in a nine-inning affair, 4-3.

With the win, Georgia Southern (29-24) advances to face No. 1 seed Chattanooga in the championship game, which is set to begin at 4:50 p.m. The Eagles would have to defeat the Lady Mocs twice to win the championship. They will be looking for their first title since 2006. Samford ends the season at 21-30.

In the ninth inning, Eagles’ senior Amanda Hall nailed a triple to score Robyne Siliga and give the Eagles the winning run.

Catcher Jenny Side led the way for the Eagles with a 2-for-4 performance and two RBIs. Hall was 2-for-5 with the winning RBI. In a losing effort for the Bulldogs, Jessica Owens was 4-for-5 with one RBI, while senior Kristy Lawrence was 2-for-3 with a RBI.

Picking up the win for GSU was SoCon Pitcher of the Year Brianna Streetmon (17-10), who pitched all nine innings. Samford pitcher Stephanie Royall took the loss for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs, trailing 3-2, were down to their last strike in the game when Lawrence crushed a 2-2 Streetmon pitch over the left field wall to tie the game at three and send the game to extra innings.

The Eagles started off the sixth inning with a Marie Fogle single up the middle. Following a Siliga walk, Hall reached by error to bring in Fogle for the first run of the game. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Side singled up the middle bringing in Hall and Siliga to make the score 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth.

The Bulldogs answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Lawrence started off the inning with a double to center field. Whitney Terry reached first on an error before Amanda Jordan drove in Lawrence on a bunt. Later in the inning Owens singled to plate Terry to make the game, 3-2, heading into the seventh and final inning.

Lady Mocs Win 10th SoCon Tournament Title

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