No. 1 Seed UAH vs. No. 8 Seed West Georgia
WHEN	Friday, May 5 at 11 a.m.
WHERE	Charger Park
FOLLOW	Live Stats | Live Video
SOCIAL MEDIA	Twitter (@GameDayUAH)

HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team will open up play in the 2017 Gulf South Conference Softball Championships on Friday, taking on West Georgia at 11 a.m. at Charger Park.
 
The Chargers are hosting the tournament after finishing first in the conference during the regular season.
 
UAH enters the weekend at 39-14 on the season, while the Wolves come to the Rocket City at 29-23.
 
Finishing the season strong, the Chargers rebounded from dropping four of six by winning the last six of the year en route to capturing the regular season crown for the first time since 2013.
 
UAH is led offensively by two-time GSC Player of the Year Kaitlyn Bannister who is hitting .476 on the season with 14 doubles and 18 home runs to go along with 62 RBI and a slugging percentage of .876.
 
The Chargers has been especially strong in the circle with the team recording a 1.87 ERA on the year with UAH's top two pitchers of Tyler Harrison – the GSC Pitcher of the Year – and Emily Glover owning respective ERAs of 1.51 and 1.86. UAH has also tallied 307 strikeouts with Harrison's 159 leading the way, and the conference's top pitcher has also racked up a team-best 18 wins and six shutouts.
 
UAH is 66-28 all-time in the GSC tournament and has appeared in the championship contest 11 times including titles in 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, and 2008, and the team will looking to bounce back from last year's tournament when the team fell in its first two games.
 
UAH is 1-0 against West Georgia in the conference tournament, with the lone meeting coming in 2013 when the Chargers were 12-0 winners in a contest that also started the tournament that season.
 
The Wolves finished the regular season by winning four of their last five games, and the eighth-seeded team features the GSC Freshman of the Year in Raven Smith who is batting .376 on the season with nine doubles, six home runs, and 40 RBI, and she has also walked 25 times to own a .462 on-base percentage.
 
In the circle, the team owns a 3.96 ERA with Danielle Easterly logging a team-low 3.37 to go alone with a team-best 50 strikeouts, while Adriana Durden paces the team with a 10-5 record.
 
The winner of the contest will take on the winner of No. 4 seed Valdosta State and fifth-seeded North Alabama. VSU and UNA will play 30 minutes following the UAH game against West Georgia, and the two winners will play 30 minutes after the day's second game.
 
The two losers will play the final contest of the day at Charger Park.