Season stats
SoCon stats
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The UNCG Softball team rallied to take game one 8-7, but fell 6-5 in game two against SoCon foe Chattanooga Saturday at Jim Frost Stadium.
UNCG improves to 33-12, 10-6 in the SoCon, while the Lady Mocs are 25-21, 9-8 in league play.
UNCG 8, Chattanooga 7
In game one, the Spartans used a late-inning rally scoring six runs in the seventh inning to earn a comeback 8-7 win against the Lady Mocs.
Junior Aisha Figueroa (Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes) finished with a 3-for-3 effort with a run scored and classmate Katelyn Bedwell (Surrey, B.C./Elgin Park) was 3-for-4 with an RBI.
In the seventh inning, Figueroa started the rally with a walk, while pinch-hitter Aubrey Baldwin (Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills) singled to left field. Freshman Lindsay Thomas (Irvine, Calif./Northwood) walked to load the bases. Bedwell lined an RBI single to right field and senior Heather Robb (Apex, N.C./Middle Creek) hit a shot to third base for an RBI single to cut the lead to 7-4. After a fielder's choice, sophomore Tatiana Alcala (Oxnard, Calif./Pacifica) reached on an error and another Spartan runner came home to make it 7-5. Classmate Dominique Madruga (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) picked up an RBI single to left field. Freshman Kaisey Carson came in to pitch for Chattanooga with the score 7-6. Freshman Allison Geiner (Raleigh, N.C./Middle Creek) delivered the eventual game-winning two-run single to centerfield to give the Spartans an 8-7 lead.
Freshman Kelly Lupton (Galloway, N.J./Absegami) worked a 1-2-3 seventh to earn her fourth win of the season. Lupton pitched three innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run in relief. Taylor Deason took the loss after throwing 6.1 innings, allowing five earned runs (three unearned) on 12 hits.
In the bottom of the first inning, Chattanooga scored six runs on six hits to jump out to a 6-0 lead on UNCG. The Lady Mocs with back-to-back infield singles from Sam Taylor and Sara Poteat. Anyssa Robles singled up the middle, but Alcala nailed Taylor at the plate to keep the game scoreless. Kasey Tydingco singled off the pitcher to give Chattanooga a 1-0 lead. Sarah Beth Roberts made it 2-0 on an infield hit and Stephanie Rieck reached on an error to push the Lady Mocs advantage to 3-0. Kaiti Dutton earned an RBI walk and Alyssa Taylor picked up a two-run double to give Chattanooga a 6-0 lead after one inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, UNCG scored two runs to cut Chattanooga's lead to 6-2. Bedwell singled to left field, while Robb doubled with one out to put runners on second and third. Senior Eileen Horsmon (Dunkirk, Md./Northern) worked a walk to load the bases with one out. Pinch-hitter Toni MacReynolds (Vienna, Va./James Madison) reached on an error to give UNCG their first run. Freshman Nicole Thomas (Irvine, Calif./Northwood) earned a pinch-hit RBI groundout for the second run of the game.
Chattanooga scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after Poteat tripled with one out and Robles hit a sacrifice fly to left field to give the Lady Mocs a 7-2 advantage.
Chattanooga 6, UNCG 5
In game two, UNCG tried to rally again but fell just short in a 6-5 defeat to split the doubleheader. Thomas paced the Spartans with a 3-for-3 game at the plate with two RBI.
Sophomore Erica Navarette (San Marcos, Calif./Mission Hills) took the loss to fall to 7-5 on the season. Navarette threw five innings, allowing only three earned runs (three unearned) on seven hits. Freshman Kaisey Carson earned her third win after pitching 4.1 innings, allowing two earned runs (three unearned) on seven hits.
The Spartans scored two runs in the first inning after Thomas lined a two-run single to right field. Figueroa singled to the shortstop to extend her hitting streak to a team-best 14 games. Alcala reached on an error to setup runners on second and third. Thomas earned her 35th and 36th RBI of the season.
In the bottom of the first, the Lady Mocs tied the game with a two out two-run home run from Kasey Tydingco. Taylor worked a walk to start the inning. After two outs, Tydingco blasted her fifth home run of the season.
Chattanooga took a 3-2 lead in the second inning after a two out RBI double from Taylor to left center.
In the bottom of the third, the Lady Mocs scored again with two outs after Ninjja Suetsugu lined an RBI single and two more runs came across after an error by the Spartans. Chattanooga increased its lead to 6-2 after three innings.
UNCG cut the lead to 6-3 after Geiner picked up a two out RBI single to left field. Horsmon singled to the pitcher to start the inning. After two outs, Geiner earned her third RBI of the doubleheader with the base hit.
The Lady Mocs were thrown out at the plate after Robles grounded into a double play in the bottom of the fourth. Taylor was caught at the plate after trying to score from third on a ground ball to Horsmon at first base. The Spartans decided to load the bases with back-to-back intentionally walks and ended the threat with a pop out to second base from Stephanie Reick.
The Spartans used the momentum and cut Chattanooga's lead to 6-5 after Bedwell blasted a two-run home run, her 10th of the season, to left center in the top of the fifth inning. Thomas singled to start the inning and Bedwell picked up two more RBI to push her season total to 44.
In the sixth inning, UNCG had a runner at second with two outs but Figueroa grounded out to first base to end the threat.
UNCG concludes the three-game series with a single game Sunday, April 21 at 2 p.m. at Jim Frost Stadium.
Be sure to follow all updates about the UNCG softball season on
www.uncgspartans.com or on twitter @UNCGsports/@UNCGsoftball.
