WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. | The fourth-seeded University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team used an offensive barrage and some sparkling defensive efforts to overwhelm No. 5 seed Valdosta State on Thursday in the opening contest of the NCAA Division II Softball South 1 Regional, with the Chargers advancing to the winner's bracket with an 11-6 victory.
 
The Chargers improve to 36-15 on the season while VSU slips to 41-12, and UAH will face the winner of top-seeded Palm Beach Atlantic and No. 8 seed Albany State at 12 p.m. CDT on Friday.
 
UAH pounded out 14 hits in the contest including nine for extra bases of which three were towering home runs, and though the Blazers would register 13 hits of their own, the Chargers would turn three double plays – including two inning-ending ones – in limiting the damage done by Valdosta.
 
Jada Hayes, Kiara Akles, and Brooke Miller all had three hits in the game, and each member of that trio had a homer in the contest in addition to a double off the bat of both Hayes and Miller.
 
Recording a two-hit showing was the pair of Alaina Hampton and Taylor Wascavage as both had a pair of doubles, and the Chargers were led in RBI by Miller's three and a pair for both Akles and Wascavage.
 
Akles went the distance in the circle, turning in a steady performance that was strong than the stat line of 13 hits and six runs – of which five were earned – would indicate.
 
VSU started the contest with a single, but as a harbinger of defensive gems to follow, Akles induced a liner to Shelby Booker at third who promptly threw to first to double the runner off there to limit any potential damage, and it would be the Chargers who got on the board first when Hayes singled through the left side to start the second, allowing her to score on a blast by Akles that curved around the pole in left to make it a 2-0 Charger lead.
 
That started a back-and-forth section of the game as Valdosta State scored twice in the top of the third to tie the game before Hayes homered with two outs in the bottom half of the inning to put her team back ahead 3-2.
 
The top of the fourth saw the Blazers take advantage of four hits and an error to cross the plate three times while taking their first lead of the game at 5-3, but the Chargers would once again have an answer.
 
Miller blasted the team's third homer of the game with one out in the frame, and the team would then take advantage of three fielding miscues by Valdosta State to score twice more, regaining the advantage at 6-5.
 
Keeping the Chargers in front, a sharply hit grounder to Booker at third with a runner one was fielded smoothly by the third baseman who fired to Miller at second who then made the turn to first in time to put a zero on the board for VSU, and UAH would capitalize on that momentum with four straight hits to start the first including back-to-back, run-producing doubles from Hampton and Wascavage in extending the lead to 8-5.
 
Wascavage then atoned for an error earlier in the game, starting the team's second straight consecutive inning-ending double play in the top of the sixth, and UAH would then bust the contest wide open with four hits and three more runs in the home frame to go up 11-5 on the team's most frequently faced opponent in the program's NCAA tournament history.
 
Valdosta State then would score once in the top of the seventh to create the 11-6 final.
 
On the season, Hampton now has a team-best 56 RBI, while Wascavage's strong day moves her to 31 on the year which gives UAH eight players who have at least 30 this season.
 
The home run for Akles is her 14th of the year, while Hayes and Miller move to eight and seven, respectively, in roundtrippers.
 
Akles moves to 12-3 in the circle.