HUNTSVILLE | The University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team picked up another Gulf South Conference series win with another doubleheader sweep as the Chargers beat Mississippi College 8-4 in the opener before winning in walk-off fashion by a 7-6 score in the nightcap at Charger Park. UAH improves to 28-12 (18-8 GSC), while the Choctaws slip to 24-13 (15-10 GSC).
 
Next Time Out
-The two teams are slated to wrap up the series on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled for 8 a.m.
 
UAH 8, Mississippi College 4
Game Changer
-UAH put together a seven-run fifth inning that included a pair of walks with the bases loaded and a bases-clearing double with the bags packed to provide more than enough cushion in the game.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Mississippi College outhit the Chargers by an 8-7 margin in the contest, and Amber Hammonds led the Chargers with two of the seven.
-Jada Hayes had the bases-loaded double in fifth to lead UAH with three RBI, while Reagan Malone, Alaina Hampton, Ashley Cornell, Brooke Miller, and Hammonds all had an RBI each for the Chargers.
-Four of UAH's seven hits were for extra bases with Hammonds, Hayes, and Taylor Wascavage all having doubles while Hampton hit a home run.
-Kiara Akles picked up the win in the circle, scattering the eight hits, allowing just three earned runs, and striking out four, and Hayes pitched 1.2 innings of relief without permitting a hit.
 
Key Plays
-The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Hampton homered off the pole down the line in left, but the Choctaws would immediately answer back with a run of their own in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 1-1.
-Thanks to a patient approach, the flood gates opened for the Chargers in the bottom half of the fifth as Miller and Cornell both drew walks with the bases loaded before Hammonds singled in a run to make it 4-1.
-Hayes then had the big at-bat of the game as she doubled down left field line to score Hammonds, Cornell, and Miller and put the Chargers ahead 7-1, and Malone would score Hayes with a base hit later in the frame to give UAH an 8-1 advantage.
-The guests would score three of their own in the sixth before Hayes entered the game and held them off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
 
Noteworthy
-The home run for Hampton is her 10th of the season, matching the fellow freshman Akles for the team lead, and she now has 38 RBI on the season.
-Akles picks up her eighth win of the season in the circle, and she now has totaled 63 strikeouts.
 
UAH 7, Mississippi College 6
Game Changer
-Hayes again proved to be pivotal in the nightcap, singling with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh with two outs to drive in Cornell who had reached on a base hit earlier in the inning.
 
Inside the Box Score
-The Chargers picked up 12 hits in the contest compared to nine for the Choctaws, and Cornell had a terrific showing, going 4-for-5 and scoring twice while also knocking in a run.
-Other multi-hit performances for UAH came from Hayes and Miller who both had a pair including a double from Miller.
-UAH had an unselfish approach again at the plate, picking up three sacrifice bunts and a pair of sac flies.
-Layton Murphy went 6.2 innings and struck out six before giving way to Hayes who got the final out of the top of the seventh to be in line for the win.
 
Key Plays
-The Choctaws jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, and after Miller scored on a hit by Cornell in the bottom of the second, MC would regain its three-run advantage at 4-1 with another tally in the fourth.
-UAH started to chip away at its deficit in the bottom of the fifth, with Akles driving in a run and Hayes scoring on a wild pitch to make it 4-3, and a three-run sixth that included a bunt single for a run by Shelby Booker along with sac flies from Wascavage and Hayes put the Chargers up 6-4.
-Mississippi College would tie the affair at 6-6 with a two-run, two-out homer, but the Chargers would not be deterred as Hayes hit the single to center with two outs and the bases loaded to score Cornell for the game-winning run.
 
Noteworthy
-The four hits by Cornell mark a season-best by a Charger on the year.
-Hayes is now 6-2 in the circle, and she is third on the team with 34 RBI.