HUNTSVILLE | The 10th-ranked University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team split its regular season home finale, beating visiting Arkansas Tech 3-2 before falling 6-5 in eight innings in the nightcap. The Chargers move to 35-11 on the year, while the Golden Suns go to 35-16.
 
UAH will now conclude regular season action this weekend when the team travels to Livingston to take on West Alabama for a three-game Gulf South Conference set.
 
Helping her team earn the win in the first game, Tyler Harrison continued her torrid ways in the circle, racking up a UAH season-high 10 strikeouts en route to her 13th win and her sixth straight victory. The Mobile, Alabama, native did not issue a walk while giving up just three hits and the two runs.
 
All of the runs the Chargers would score came in the fourth inning after going down 1-0 when the Golden Suns were able to score on a wild pitch in top half of the inning.
 
Brianna Sullivan was in the middle of the two of the run-scoring plays, singling up the middle to plate Haley Thompson before later stealing third and advancing home on an errant throw by the Arkansas Tech catcher to put the Blue and White up 2-1. Another error by the visiting defense later in the inning allowed UAH to go in front 3-1.
 
A home run in the sixth would pull Tech within a run, but Harrison would retire the side in order in the seventh to seal the triumph.
 
Behind Victoria Frith's two-hit showing, the Chargers outhit the guests 6-3.
 
In the setback, UAH jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Michal Robertson and Harrison both knocked in runs before Savannah Smith had a two-RBI single up the middle to make it a four-run first inning, but Arkansas Tech would eventually score three times in the third to pull within one.
 
Making the margin 5-3 in the bottom frame of the third, Victoria Crumpton recorded an RBI on a groundout, and that lead would hold until the seventh when a pair of ATU homers knotted the game at 5-5 to force extra innings.
 
An unearned run in the eighth with the international tiebreaker rule in effect gave the Golden Suns the lead, and then the visitors were able to hang on to earn the split.
 
Arkansas Tech held an 11-8 advantage in hits in the game, but Frith, Harrison, and Smith all had strong games as each recorded a pair.