JACKSON, Tenn. | Kaitlyn Bannister drove in a program-record 10 runs, propelling The University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team to a 20-0 win in five innings at Union on Friday night in the opener of the regular season's final series. UAH improves to 36-13 (20-11 Gulf South Conference), while UU slips to 10-40 (3-28 GSC).
 
In setting UAH's RBI record, Bannister was 4-for-5 with two home runs and a double, and in addition to being UAH's top mark, the 10 RBI is also tied for second in the GSC record books.
 
The old UAH record was seven and had been accomplished seven times.
 
Bannister now has driven in 70 runs on the year which is just nine off the single-season record of 79 set by Beth Lawson in 2009, and the junior – who was named a finalist for the NFCA National Player of the Year award earlier this week – moved into fourth all-time at UAH with 189 career RBI.
 
This season, there has been only one NCAA player – across all divisions – to record at least 10 RBI in a game as Emily Stratton of Division III's Lebanon Valley drove in 11 on March 10.
 
Bannister started the scoring in the first inning with the first of two three-run homers, driving in Brianna Sullivan and Savannah Smith who both finished the contest with three hits from the top two spots in the lineup, and that 3-0 advantage would be more than enough for pitcher Kimberly Jack who tossed the shutout – her third of the year – in the circle for UAH.
 
In the five innings, Jack allowed just three hits and struck out four while moving to 7-2 on the season.
 
UAH – which scored three in the first, four in the second, two in the third, and 11 in the fifth – finished the game with 21 hits as Jada Hayes also had three, and she recorded a pair of RBI which was also done by Smith and Taylor Wascavage.
 
Emily Glover, Kelly Campbell, and Wascavage each recorded a pair of hits, while Haley Thompson, Sullivan, Glover and Wascavage all picked up a double in the contest.
 
The two teams will close out the regular season slate on Saturday with a doubleheader, and the twin-bill is slated for a 1 p.m. start in Jackson.