CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Chattanooga Mocs softball team remains on the road to take on Virginia Tech in a three-game series this weekend.
The Mocs are 14-10 on the year and will start Southern Conference play on the road April 1-2 at Mercer.
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Mocs at Virginia Tech
Date: March 24-25
The game will be aired live on ACCNX and can be found on various streaming devices. Links for video and live stats are available online at GoMocs.com.
ABOUT CHATTANOOGA (14-10)
At the Spring Games in Madeira Beach, Fla., the Mocs lost on the first day but then swept through the rest of the week winning five straight. Chattanooga is hitting .279 with a slugging .412 and a .338 on-base percentage. The Mocs lead the SoCon in batting average and are second in pitching and fielding. Kaili Phillips leads UTC with a .339 batting average with five home runs, 13 RBI and five doubles. Emil\y Coltharp is batting .321 with a team-best 26 hits. In the circle, freshman Taylor Long has a 1.94 ERA and a 4-2 record in 11 appearances. Also playing in 11 games is fellow rookie Peja Goold who has a 2.16 ERA and a 4-4 mark. Sophomore Alyssa Lavdis threw a career-best 15 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Detroit Mercy at the Spring Games while Goold had 12 K’s in the Mocs extra inning win over Lafayette last week.
ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH (22-6, 8-1 ACC)
The Hokies four-game ACC streak was snapped with a non-conference loss to Charlotte on Wednesday. Virginia Tech swept Georgia Tech in its last series and went 2-1 against North Carolina for it’s lone ACC loss. The Hokies are hitting .289 on the year led by Emma Ritter (.374). She has 34 hits, seven home runs, eight extra base hits and 19 RBI. Jayme Bailey has a team best 24 RBI with eight home runs on the year and batting .361. VT has a 2.45 ERA with 223 strikeouts in 688 at-bats. Emma Lemley leads the team with a 1.78 ERA and a 14-2 record. She has pitched 14 complete games with a team-best 102.1 innings pitched.
LAST SERIES
Chattanooga went 0-3 at Florida Gulf Coast. The Mocs carried a lead into the seventh in the opening game but fell in the bottom of the inning. In the third game of the set, UTC tied the game on a home run from Kaili Phillips in the top of the seventh but couldn’t force extras with runs scored by the Eagles in the bottom of the inning for a second walk-off win.
MOCS NEWS AND NOTES
KEYLON HOMER KEY TO WIN
Addy Keylon launched a two-run shot in the fourth to center field to put the Mocs up 3-0 against Lehigh. UTC held off the Mountain Hawks, allowing just one unearned run in the fourth.
PHILLIPS WALK-OFF AGAINST PRINCETON
Junior infielder Kaili Phillips hit two home runs in the Mocs 7-6 win over Princeton including a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh. She sent the first pitch over the wall in center field for the win.
GOOLD PITCHES GEM INTO EXTRAS
Freshman pitcher Peja Goold struck out 12 batters in the Mocs 2-1 win in eight innings against Lafayette on March 15. She went 7.1 innings in a no-decision in the Mocs’ walk-off win over the Leopards in the eighth.
LAVDIS STRIKES OUT 15 AT RED & BLACK
Sophomore Alyssa Lavdis flirted with the school record for strikeouts with 15 against Detroit Mercy in the GWU Red and Black Classic on March 5. She earned her second win and pitched a complete game shutout.
KEYLON HOMERS TWICE AGAINST WESTERN ILLINOIS
Addy Keylon went for distance twice in the Mocs win over Western Illinois. She hit a three-run shot in the second to put the Mocs up 4-0. Her second of the game in the sixth inning proved to be the game-winning shot, breaking a 4-4 tie.
COLTHARP TABBED PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior infielder Emily Coltharp was named the 2023 Southern Conference Preseason Player of the Year for the second time and fourth Moc in five years to earn the honor. She was the SoCon coaches’ pick in 2021.
HONORS AND AWARDS
PHILLIPS SOCON STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
For the week of March 14-20
Kaili Phillips has a 3.589 GPA as a Master’s Candidate earning her the SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week nod. This is on top of her Player of the Week honor earlier in the week. She hit .500 on the week with four home runs and seven RBI. She went 4-for-4 against Princeton with a pair of home runs and three RBI. Her second homer of the game was a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh for the 7-6 win. She went 2-for-2 against FGCU with a home run on Thursday, scoring twice and driving in a run. She closed out the weekend with her fourth deep drive in the top of the seventh to tie the Eagles 3-3 before FGCU won it in the bottom of the inning.
PHILLIPS NAMED SOCON PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For all games played March 13-19
Kaili Phillips blasted four home runs with seven RBI and drew three walks last week to earn Southern Conference Player of the Week. Her first of two homeruns against Princeton was in the fifth to give UTC a 6-2 lead. After the Tigers tied the game in the top of the seventh, Phillips launched a walk-off in the bottom of the inning for the 7-6 win. Against FGCU, Phillips hit a two-run blast to break up a 2-2 tie in the fifth, giving UTC a 4-2 lead in the opening game of the series. She had a two-run shot in the top of the seventh to break a 3-3 tie. UTC lost both games.
GOOLD NAMED SOCON PITCHER OF THE WEEK
For all games played March 6-12
Peja Goold made one start and with two appearances over the weekend at the Spring Games. She had a 0.00 ERA for the week with a 1.62 opponents batting average. She got the start against Lafayette on Sunday and struck out a career-high 12 in 7-1/3 innings in the Mocs 2-1 win over the Leopards. Against Iowa, the Stockton, Calif., native came on in relief, pitching four innings. She did not allow any runs on two hits.
LAVDIS NAMED TSWA, SOCON TOP PITCHER
For all games played February 27-March 5
Alyssa Lavdis had two appearances with one start last week. She pitched 10 innings with five hits, four walks, 18 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA. She pitched three innings in relief against Harvard, earning the wing after giving up just one hit and striking out three batters in the 7-3 win. Two days later, the sophomore pitched a complete game with a career-best 15 strikeouts, one shy of the Mocs single-game record, in a 5-0 win over Detroit Mercy.
SELLERS TSWA PLAYER, PITCHER OF THE WEEK
For all games played February 27-March 5
Acelynn Sellers batted .412 with two doubles, one home run, four RBI and three runs scored in five games for the Mocs. She had two hits with three RBI in the Mocs 7-3 win over Harvard with three runs scored. She was 3-for-4 in UTC 5-0 win over Detroit Mercy
TEAM NEWS
MOCS 13-7 IN TOURNAMENTS
Despite multiple cancelled games due to inclement weather and field conditions, the Mocs played in five tournaments to start the season and went 13-7 in 20 games played. UTC won it’s only game at the Charleston Challenge before weather halted play the rest of the weekend. At home, UTC did not play the first day and went 2-2 in the Chattanooga Challenge. The next weekend, the Frost Classic saw Friday games cancelled and the late games on Saturday where UTC was 1-2. The Mocs got all five games in at the GWU Red and Black Classic, coming away with a 4-1 mark. The Mocs annual Spring Break trip took them to Florida where they went 5-2 in the Spring Games.
MOCS HOMER TWICE IN SEASON-OPENER
Chattanooga held off JMU in the season-opener for both teams at the Charleston Challenge on February 10. Kendall Forsythe game the Mocs the lead in the bottom of the first with a two-run shot to left field. Presley Williamson followed that with a solo homer in the fourth to make it 3-1 in UTC’s favor. Williamson’s walk in the fith put the Mocs up 4-1, enough for the win despite JMU’s two RBI in the seventh.
MOCS PICKED THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL
Chattanooga received 28 votes in the Southern Conference Coaches Preseason Poll and was picked to finish third behind Samford (33) and UNCG (31). The Bulldogs were picked to finish first with four first place votes ahead of defending regular season champion UNCG who picked up the remaining three votes.
COACHING NEWS
FRANK REED TALLIES 700TH CAREER WIN
Mocs head coach Frank Reed recorded his 700th career win in Chattanooga’s 5-0 win over Detroit Mercy at the Gardner-Webb Red and Black Classic. He is in his 22nd season at the helm of the Mocs and is responsible for nearly 70 percent of Chattanooga’s wins as a program. He has led UTC to 15 Southern Conference championship titles and 12 NCAA Tournament appearances. His 33-year softball career includes 11 at Chattanooga State where he tallied 476 wins with the Tigers and has 1,176 over his career as of March 5, 2023.
EMMA STURDIVANT REJOINS TEAM
Former Moc Emma Sturdivant made her return to Chattanooga as a volunteer assistant coach. She spent the last two
FACILITY NEWS
FROST UNDERGOING FACELIFT
• Frost Stadium will undergo a renovations expected to last until April. The Mocs will play its home tournaments as well as two home games in the quad at Warner Park until that time.
