HUNTSVILLE | In a battle between two of the top teams in the Gulf South Conference, the ninth-ranked University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team split with visiting Shorter on Saturday at Charger Park, taking the first game by a 4-1 score before falling 5-4 in the nightcap. The Chargers are now 12-5 (7-2 GSC), while Shorter moves to 13-4 (6-4 GSC).
 
Kaitlyn Bannister was the star of the UAH victory, driving in all four runs on two swings of the bat as she had a two-run homer in the first and another in the sixth to aid UAH's cause. The sophomore now has a team-best five home runs and also leads the squad with 23 RBI.
 
The round-tripper in the first would have been enough as Kimberly Jack tossed her third complete game of the season en route to moving to 4-1 in the circle. Scattering five hits, Jack gave up just one run in the game in the fifth, and the junior finished the contest with eight strikeouts while walking just one.
 
The Chargers outhit Shorter 6-5 in the game as Haley Thompson, Tyler Harrison, Michal Roberts and Abby Roberts each had a hit in addition to Bannister's pair.
 
Brianna Sullivan – who led off the first with a walk – scored on Bannister's homer, while Thompson scored on the second.
 
In the second game, Shorter jumped out to a 3-0 lead after scoring once in the second and twice in the third, but Bannister cut the deficit to two when she singled in Victoria Frith in the bottom of the third. The visitors, however, immediately went back ahead by three by tacking on a run in the fourth to make it 4-1.
 
UAH then proceeded to chip away at the Shorter advantage, scoring in the fifth on another RBI single from Bannister before pulling to within two on Emily Glover's second home run of the season in the sixth, but Shorter then secured an important insurance run with a homer in the seventh that made it 5-3.
 
Michal Robertson had a solo shot in the seventh – her third of the season – but UAH could do no further damage in the final frame.
 
The Chargers pounded out 14 hits in the game with Frith leading the way with a three-hit performance while Sullivan, Bannister, Robertson and Roberts all had a pair.
 
Harrison (5-2) started the contest for UAH and was charged with the loss. Glover relieved her and went four innings, striking out four while surrendering a pair of runs, and Taylor Doriety pitched the final two outs for the Chargers.
 
The series will wrap-up with a rubber match on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Charger Park.