The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team's 2024 season come to a close with an 0-2 showing in the NCAA tournament's Tallahassee Regional at Florida State.
The Mocs, after flirting with an upset of No. 15 seed Florida State on Friday before the Seminoles rallied late to win 3-2, were limited to just one hit and two baserunners in a 9-0 loss to Auburn on Saturday that was cut to five innings by the run rule.
The Mocs (42-16) were unable to shake off a weather delay that pushed games back five hours on Saturday in Tallahassee.
After finding a modicum of offensive success a day earlier against the Seminoles, the Mocs weren't able to follow that up as the only players to reach base against the Tigers were former Ooltewah High School standout Addy Keylon on a walk in the third inning and Silverdale Baptist Academy graduate Kaili Phillips on a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth. Eight of UTC's 15 outs were by strikeout.
Auburn, on the other hand, had a bead on UTC pitching from the outset with both teams facing the prospect of elimination. Sophomore and Southern Conference pitcher of the year Peja Goold was tagged for two home runs, five runs and six hits while walking four batters in three innings before being replaced by Alyssa Lavdis, who gave up three runs to the seven batters she faced.
Izzy Alley, a junior, pitched the final inning for UTC, walking two batters and giving up a run.
The Mocs swept the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles on their way into the national postseason, but they fell to 7-26 all-time in the NCAA tournament with the pair of losses.
Phillips, Keylon and Kendall Forsythe are the only graduating seniors on the roster.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.