VALDOSTA, Ga. | In a contest that stretched into 11 innings, fourth-seeded Shorter came away with a 3-1 victory over the fifth-seeded University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team in the opening game of the 2015 NCAA South 1 Regional on Friday afternoon. UAH slips to 39-15 with the setback, while Shorter improves to 37-15.
 
The Chargers will now play the loser of the Valdosta State/Tuskegee contest in an elimination game at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, Shorter's Paige Rowland hit a two-run home run to end the game that took just 20 minutes shy of the three-hour mark to complete.
 
Earning the tough loss for UAH in the circle was Tyler Harrison who tossed each inning for the Chargers in moving to 15-6 on the year, and each of Shorter's three runs were unearned for the sophomore. The All-GSC performer scattered eight hits, struck out two and walked none in 10.2 innings of work.
 
UAH's lone run of the game came in the sixth inning when Kaitlyn Bannister hit her 13th home run of the season to tie the contest at 1-1. The GSC Player of the Year finished the game as one of three Chargers to record multiple hits as she had two in the contest.
 
Victoria Frith led the way for UAH with three hits on the game, while Harrison added a pair of her own to help the Chargers outhit the Hawks 11-8.
 
The Chargers had a pair of strong opportunities to take the game's first lead, putting runners in scoring position in the second, third, and fourth innings – loading the bases in the fourth, in fact – but Shorter turned three inning-ending double plays to avoid falling behind.
 
That allowed Shorter to take the lead in the fourth when an error resulted in the game's first run.
 
UAH also had runners at first and second with one out in the sixth and the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, but the Hawks worked themselves out of those jams, as well.