HUNTSVILLE | The No. 12 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team opened the 2015 campaign on Friday with a pair of victories, defeating Ferris State 5-0 and holding on for a 4-3 decision over Bellarmine at the 2015 Charger Chillout held at the Metro Kiwanis Sportsplex in the Rocket City. The Chargers start the season at 2-0, while both FSU and BU start at 0-1.
 
The wins represent the 895th and 896th of 2015 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee Les Stuedeman's career.
 
In the day's first game, UAH outhit Ferris State 8-5 on its way to the victory. Both Tyler Harrison and Kaitlyn Bannister recorded a pair of hits and two RBI in the contest to lead the Chargers at the plate.
 
With the Chargers up 1-0 after Michal Robertson drew a bases-loaded walk in the first, Bannister added onto the UAH advantage with one swing of the bat in the third as she homered to left-center to score Harrison who had started the inning with a base hit, and it was Harrison who recorded a two-RBI knock in the sixth to pad the Charger advantage when she singled to center to drive in Brianna Sullivan and Victoria Frith.
 
The one run in the first would have been enough for the Chargers as Taylor Doriety tossed a strong five innings in the circle en route to picking up the victory. The sophomore scattered five hits while striking out six, and her performance was closed out by Kimberly Jack who did not allow a hit in two perfect innings in relief.
 
In the victory over Bellarmine, the Knights grabbed the game's first lead on a solo homer from Marlee Tevis in the first, but after a scoreless second, the Chargers would answer in a big way in the third.
 
Three doubles in the frame put the Blue and White ahead as Harrison, Haley Thompson and Emily Glover all had run-producing two-baggers, and the inning was capped off by an RBI single from Abby Roberts who drove in her first run in a UAH uniform to tilt the score in her team's favor 4-1.
 
Glover's double helped her own cause as she earned the victory in the circle by tossing five innings, scattering eight hits and three runs as Bellarmine pulled within one with a run in both the third and fifth innings.
 
Jack then entered the contest for the sixth and seventh, and she was again perfect in not allowing a hit while striking out one in earning her first save of the season.
 
For the contest, UAH outhit the Knights 11-8 as Frith, Sullivan, Thompson, and Harrison each had a pair in the game.
 
The Chargers will continue play at the Chillout on Saturday when the squad faces Maryville at noon before battling No. 21 Indianapolis at 2 p.m.