Lady Mocs Withstand Army In Nine Innings
May 19, 2000
Box Score
SEATTLE - The Chattanooga softball team used a gutty performance to keep their season alive beating Army 6-4 in nine innings on Friday afternoon at Husky Softball Stadium in the first elimination game at the Seattle Regional.
In a game that featured nine extra-base hits, the Lady Mocs (47-26) prevailed scoring twice in the top of the ninth to earn their first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The victory is also the first team win in NCAA postseason history in women's athletics at UTC.
With the win, Chattanooga advances to play at 12:30 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday against a to-be-determined opponent.
Talya Trudell (13-5) came on in relief of Connie Ness in the fifth inning and pitched 5.1 innings to earn the win. For Army, Sara Hatton (14-11) suffered her second loss in as many days.
Chattanooga took a 3-1 lead in the third inning scoring three times. Dana Reed had a two-run double and Angela Brewer followed with an RBI-single.
The Lady Knights chipped away at the UTC lead before tying the game in the sixth. In the fourth, Jennifer Knowlden hit a solo home run and in the sixth, Bianca Brito singled home Sarah Thornton with the game-tying run.
In the eighth inning, UTC took a 4-3 lead when pinch-runner Beth Alexander scored on a double by Kami Tucker. However, Army (29-18) answered in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run by Nicole Robbins.
In the ninth, Reed hit her second double of the game with one out. After Brewer walked, Carrie Hamilton had an RBI-double to put the Lady Mocs in front 5-4. Tara Garner followed with a sacrifice fly to score Brewer to give UTC a two-run cushion.