An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that UTC had never won the SoCon softball tournament after falling into the losers bracket.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball program has now won 16 Southern Conference tournament championships.
No. 16 took a little bit of extra work, but the Mocs bounced back when they had to.
UTC, seeded No. 1 in the eight-team double-elimination league tournament after winning the SoCon regular-season title for the 15th time last weekend, lost in Friday's winners-bracket final to second-seeded UNC Greensboro, the tournament host. After avoiding elimination by rallying from an early deficit in the losers-bracket final against No. 3 Samford that evening, the Mocs went into Saturday knowing they would have to beat UNCG twice.
Check and check.
With 5-0 and 9-5 victories against the Spartans (33-26), UTC (42-14) swept the SoCon titles for the 11th time and secured the league's automatic bid for the NCAA Division I tournament that begins at regional sites next Thursday and Friday. The Mocs came out of the losers bracket to win the SoCon tourney for the third time in program history, with the first two occasions in 2000 and 2008.
UTC sophomore pitcher Peja Goold was named the tournament's most outstanding player, throwing a complete game in the first contest of the championship round and getting a win in the second one while splitting time with Alyssa Lavdis, who came into a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the fourth inning and yielded just two runs. Goold returned in the top of the seventh and struck out three of the four batters she faced to seal the win.
Over a four-game span in the tournament, Goold struck out 35 batters and allowed just seven runs over 27 1/3 innings.
"I couldn't have done it without my team," said Goold, who is 12-3 this season. "Honestly, it's a team MVP award, because my team is the reason we've got this far and I got the opportunity to pitch, so it's all on them, too.
"We enjoy being with each other. Sometimes you see each other every day and it's hard sometimes, but we actually wake up every day at 5 in the morning ready to go to the weight room and be with each other, and we dance around and everything is so much fun."
Anna Dovey blew the first game open with a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the fifth, and former Silverdale Baptist Academy standout Kaili Phillips added a two-run double an inning later to cap the scoring.
In the second game, Phillips was 3-for-3, scoring four times and finishing a double shy of the cycle. Phillips and former Ooltewah standout Addy Keylon had home runs in the fifth to stretch the lead to 6-3, and Keylon — who was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs — doubled in the sixth to drive in a run. Jayce Purdy had RBIs via two-run singles in the third and sixth innings.
UTC beat the Spartans four times in six meetings this year, winning two of three at UNCG during the regular season.
Phillips, who hit .615 with four RBIs and scored seven runs scored in the Mocs' five games in North Carolina, and Kendall Forsythe, who had five RBIs in Thursday's win over Mercer, were named to the all-tournament team.
The entire 64-team field for the NCAA tourney will be revealed during the selection show at 7 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2, and UTC fans are invited to watch with the Mocs in a free event at the Ultra Club at Finley Stadium. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and there will be complimentary parking in the VIP lot.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.