TCC Softball braces for Tiger invasion

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (February 20, 2015) – Not one but two sets of Tigers are on their way to the TCC Softball Complex. 

Tallahassee Community College's nationally-ranked softball team will host doubleheaders against the Chattanooga (Tenn.) State Community College Tigers at 1 p.m. Saturday and the Andrew (Ga.) College Fighting Tigers at 2 p.m. Monday. 

Admission for both dates is free. 

Saturday's matchup is particularly interesting, as NJCAA No. 9 Tallahassee, off to a 9-2 start, hosts No. 4 Chattanooga State, who has won nine of its first ten games in 2015. 

Both teams also qualified for the 2014 national tournament in St. George, Utah, though they did not cross paths on the field. While Tallahassee was eliminated after two games, Chattanooga State finished third and was eliminated by the College of Central Florida. 

Saturday's doubleheader will pit strength versus strength. 

Tallahassee's pitching trio of Gabrielle Decker, Mariah Rivera and Alexandra Cook have a combined 0.61 ERA. Cook, named the NJCAA Division I Softball Pitcher of the Week on Thursday, has posted a microscopic 0.27 ERA, allowing just one earned run in 26 innings of work. Saturday, however, figures to be the Eagles' toughest test to date. 

The Tigers boast a .323 team batting average and have smacked 15 home runs thus far. Lizabeth McCurry (.407 average, 3 home runs, 13 RBIs) and Lindsey Stickrod (.378, 4, 10) pose the biggest threats offensively for Chattanooga State. 

Monday's doubleheader is the make-up of the February 4 rainout with the visitors from Cuthbert, Ga. 

Andrew has won three of its last four games and is 6-4 overall. Two of the losses have come to the Eagles' chief Panhandle Conference rival, Chipola College, by the scores of 6-2 and 1-0. The Fighting Tigers have also split a doubleheader with Abraham Baldwin (Ga.) Agricultural College, a team Tallahassee swept on February 6.