TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga softball team made things interesting at the end, but Florida State scored three times in the top of the eighth inning and ended the Lady Mocs’ season with a 5-3 win Friday in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. UTC finished the season with a record of 41-22.

Single runs off UTC starting pitcher Brooke Loudermilk in the second and third innings gave the Seminoles (38-27) a 2-0 lead, and FSU starter Tiffany McDonald was in command from the pitching circle.

McDonald was trying to nail down the shutout in the seventh when UTC’s offense finally came alive. After striking out Lindsey Stiles and Tara Tembey, McDonald allowed freshman Lauren Flores to reach base on a walk, and freshman first baseman Michelle Fuzzard hit a 1-1 pitch off the top of the wall in center field to tie the game at 2.

Pitching in relief of Loudermilk, UTC freshman Kandice Irwin was matching McDonald. Irwin pitched five innings and struck out nine batters. But in the extra inning, she allowed four straight singles to open the inning, and those hits combined with an error allowed Florida State to score three runs.

The Lady Mocs’ Tiffany Baker led off the bottom of the inning with a home run, but McDonald rediscovered her form and recorded the next three outs for the win.

She allowed eight hits and struck out 17 UTC batters in eight innings.

Baker was 2-for-3 for the Lady Mocs’ only multihit performance.

For Florida State, Ashley Stager was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Brittany Osmon was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

After the game, UTC coach Frank Reed said there was still a lot for his team to be proud of despite their losses in the NCAA tournament.

“We won the conference tournament, and we set some personal bests with some home runs,” Reed said. “We have great young ladies, and we had 10 freshmen and five sophomores, and I think we made a lot of headway. We were tagged as the team that never gave up over the year.”

Lady Vols win 3-0

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee pitcher Megan Rhodes pitched 4 2/3 innings of no-hit relief, and catcher Shannon Doepking hit a two-run home run Friday as the Lady Vols defeated Winthrop 3-0 in their opening game of the Knoxville Regional.

Rhodes struck out 10 batters, and she and starter Aston Ward limited Winthrop to one hit for the game.

Doepking’s sixth-inning homer broke a scoreless tie to help the Lady Vols to their 10th consecutive victory in an NCAA regional. UT center fielder Erinn Webb went 2-for-3.

The Lady Vols (48-14) will take on No. 16 Virginia Tech today at noon. The game is scheduled to be telecast on ESPN2.

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