CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – After a lengthy rain delay cancelled one game and greatly altered the start time of the second, the IUPUI softball team (1-7) exploded on offense against host UT-Chattanooga (3-5) Saturday (Feb. 18), run-ruling the Mocs 14-3 in five innings. The victory marks the first of the season for IUPUI and first for new head coach
Heather Tarter.
The Jaguars offense was keyed by eight different players picking up hits, as
Maggie Good led the way with a 3-for-4 showing, swatting a homerun and totaling three RBIs.
Taylor Chitwood clubbed a grand slam, pushing across a game-high five RBIs on a 2-for-3 day. Both batters also clubbed a double.
Alyssa Matson went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs in the leadoff spot, as teammate
Maggie Armstrong hit a homerun and picked up a pair of runs in a 1-for-2 day.
Despite falling behind hitters in the count on a number of at-bats,
Nickole Finch was able to limit Chattanooga's offense by holding the Mocs to just two hits on the day, surrendering three earned runs in five innings of work. The complete game outing keyed the Jags victory, as Finch struck out a pair of batters while walking eight.
IUPUI came out firing, as Matson led off the game with a double to right center field. After a walk to
McKenzie Loge, Good singled to load the bases. With Chitwood at the plate, the senior knocked a grand slam to left field that promptly put the Jags up 4-0.
After a pair of runs by UT-Chattanooga in the bottom of the first, IUPUI got back to work in the top of the second. Armstrong led off with a homerun to left field, followed by a single to shortstop by
Delilah Wright. On a sacrifice bunt attempt, Matson reached on a fielding error putting runners at the corners. Loge grounded out to plate a run, and Good followed up with a two-run homer to left field to give IUPUI an 8-2 lead.
The biggest inning of the day came in the top of the third following a one-run bottom half of the second.
Roni Patterson walked, then advanced to second on a stolen base to give IUPUI a runner in scoring position. After a pair of walks to Armstrong and Wright to load the bases, Matson hit a bases clearing double to set the score at 11-3. She was thrown at trying for third base on the play. Four straight hits, the first three of which were doubles, added on another three runs for IUPUI as they set the score at 14-3.
Finch was able to preserve the Jags lead, despite running into trouble in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Finch induced a pop up, then a 5-3-2 double play to end the ball game and help the Jags secure their first win of 2017.
With the victory, the Jags will look to Sunday (Feb. 19) as the team will wrap up the Chattanooga Challenge with a pair of games against UConn at 9 a.m. EST, followed by Tennessee Tech.
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