Chattanooga, Tenn. – Alyssa Ladvis tossed her second shutout of the weekend and Olivia Lipari went 3-for-3 at the plate to pace Chattanooga to a 10-0 victory over Furman on Sunday afternoon at Frost Stadium.
Sunday's win completed the three-game series sweep for the Mocs, who improved to 34-13 overall and 13-5 in Southern Conference play. Furman dropped to 21-29 overall and 6-12 in the SoCon.
Chattanooga got on the board first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Lipari and Baileigh Pitts reached on two-out singles. After back-to-back wild pitches brought in the first run, Kendall Forsythe lined an RBI single to left field to up the lead to 2-0.
With one runner on base and one out in the third, Lipari and Pitts helped ignite another UTC rally with a single to left field and walk, respectively, to load the bases. Forsythe followed with a double off the right field fence that cleared the bases and chased starter
Emme Buzhardt.
A hit batter and throwing error put runners on the corners for the Mocs in the bottom of the fourth and Lipari came through again with an RBI single through the left side to extend the margin to 6-0. Pitt kept the rally going with an RBI single through the right side and Kaili Phillips delivered two batters later with a three-run, opposite-field blast to extend the Chattanooga lead to 10-0.
Lavdis retired the Paladins in order in the fifth to trigger the eight-run mercy rule. She improved to 10-5 in the circle after holding Furman to one hit over five innings of work.
Lipari went 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI while Forsythe went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Phillips finished 1-for-2 with three runs driven in. Pitts was 2-for-2 and reached base safely three times.
Buzhardt (2-6) took the loss for the Paladins. The junior allowed five runs on six hits over 2.1 innings in the circle. Senior
Ashlee Lykins recorded the lone hit for the Paladins with a fourth-inning single.
Furman is back in action next weekend when it hosts East Tennessee State in the final regular season series of the season. Saturday's doubleheader is set for an 11:00 a.m. first pitch.
