Sunday, April 24, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. (April 24, 2005) -  Facing frigid temperatures and poor field conditions this afternoon in Johnson City, the Lady Bucs (24-26, 9-4 SoCon) and visiting UTC Mocs (41-16, 13-3 SoCon) were able to play one contest of the originally scheduled three-game Southern Conference series.  UTC took the 7-1 victory behind a solid performance from pitcher Lacey Swarthout, while leading the way for the Bucs was Stephanie Gaynord (Manassas, Va.) with two hits for the afternoon.

Chattanooga managed to add one run in each of the first three innings to take the 3-0 advantage into the top of the fourth where they added four runs taking the dominating 7-0 lead.  The Bucs offense managed seven hits off of Swarthout, however the Mocs defense held ETSU scoreless through the first five innings of play.  In the bottom of the sixth inning, Janine Sprague (Hillsborough, N.C.) hit her league leading sixth triple of the season putting herself in scoring position for ETSU.  A Danielle Spetar (Knoxville, Tenn.) groundout and Lindsay Lane (Erwin, Tenn.) lineout ended the Bucs threat in the sixth.

The Lady Bucs managed to post one run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Mary Beth Hazelwood (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored on an Allison Burnette (Ten Mile, Tenn.) single to center field, however the late run was not enough as the Mocs took the 7-1 victory and now hold the 1-0 advantage in the season series.   

Bucs pitchers Courtney Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Belinda Barrera (Fayetteville, N.C.) allowed seven hits and three earned runs each in the ETSU loss this afternoon.  Offensively, Gaynord led the Bucs with two hits, while Hazelwood managed one hit and scored the only run of the afternoon for the home squad.

ETSU returns to action this weekend when they host UNC-Greensboro for a three-game Southern Conference series.  Competition beings Saturday with doubleheader action beginning at 1:00 p.m. from Metro Kiwanis Park.