HUNTSVILLE | In a battle two of the top-ranked teams in the land, the No. 11 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team split with fourth-ranked North Alabama on Saturday afternoon at Charger Park, winning 7-3 in the day's first game before falling 8-6 in the nightcap. The Chargers move to 31-8 (17-6 Gulf South Conference), while the Lions go to 36-5 (20-3 GSC).
 
The two teams will conclude the series on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
UAH 7, North Alabama 3
 
Tyler Harrison picked up her 19th win of the season in the circle in the first contest, striking out nine – just one off of her season high – and walking none while working around seven hits, and her pitching performance was backed up by an offensive performance that was highlighted by Taylor Wascavage's three-hit, four-RBI showing.
 
Wascavage has now driven in 25 runs on the year.
 
The freshman's first pair of RBI came in the third with the team trailing 1-0 as she singled into right to plate Kaitlyn Bannister and Abby Roberts to give UAH a 2-1 lead, and though UNA would answer with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth, the Chargers would knot the game at 3-3 in the home half of the inning when Savannah Smith stole second, drawing an errant throw that allowed Emily Glover to scurry home from third.
 
The game remained deadlocked until the Chargers erupted for a large inning in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Driving in what proved to be the winning run, Bannister singled in Brianna Sullivan to make it 4-3 before Harrison helped her own cause with an RBI single that drove in Smith to give the Chargers a 5-3 lead, and Wascavage provided UAH with even more insurance with a two-run single to end the four-run inning.
 
Wascavage's showing at the plate helped UAH outhit UNA 9-7 in the game, and she was joined in having a multi-hit game by Bannister who had two hits, and Smith and Harrison both used patient at-bats to draw three and two walks, respectively.
 
North Alabama 8, UAH 6
 
The Lions jumped out to a significant lead as the guests went up 3-0 after the first inning, and by the time the visiting half of the fourth was complete, UNA was in front 7-1.
 
Haley Thompson – who had knocked in UAH's first run – made it a 7-2 game by singling in Jada Hayes, but the Lions would get that run back and regain the six-run advantage with a homer in the top of the seventh.
 
The Chargers did not go down without a fight, however, scoring four times in the bottom of the seventh.
 
The big inning was sparked by Smith's sixth home run and 30th RBI of the season, and the team pulled within three when Sarah Jordan drove in Bannister and Harrison to make it 8-5, and the final two-run margin would be created when Wascavage scored on a passed ball and subsequent error later in the inning.
 
UNA outhit the Chargers 11-8 in the game, but the bottom of the lineup excelled for the hosts as each of Hayes, Jordan, and Thompson finished the game with a pair of hits.
 
Abby Roberts aided UAH in drawing eight walks as a team as the senior earned three free passes while lifting the team's season total to 189.