GULF SHORES, Ala. | The No. 11 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team split the season's opening day, bouncing back with a convincing 9-5 win over Eckerd after starting the day with a 13-5 setback to No. 5 Saint Leo. The Chargers start the year at 1-1.
 
Next Time Out
-UAH will be back at it on the coast on Saturday, taking on Embry-Riddle at 11:30 a.m. followed by a 2 p.m. tilt with Spring Hill.
 
UAH 9, Eckerd 5
Game Changer
-Freshman Mackenzie Nutt drove in three runs of which two came when she doubled in Shelby Booker and Regan Malone in the top of the fourth to put the Chargers ahead for good in the game.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Malone finished the contest going 4-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a run scored, while both Nutt and Kiara Akles logged a pair of hits in the game.
-The Chargers finished with 12 hits including five for extra bases as each of Nutt, Akles, Jada Hayes, Taylor Wascavage, and Ashley Cornell recorded a double.
-Sydnee Uhlman recorded the win in the circle as the transfer junior pitched four innings of relief, allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out a pair and walking none.
-Starting the contest was Layton Murphy who scattered three hits over three innings while giving up five runs of which only two were earned tallies.
-UAH ran wild on the base paths, stealing a total of seven bags with Malone swiping three and Shelby Booker picking up a pair.
 
Key Plays
-UAH opened the scoring in the top of the first, jumping on top by three runs with a pair of run-scoring base hits from Nutt and Akles before Hayes doubled in the third run of the frame.
-After Eckerd tied it with three runs of their own in the home half of the first, the Chargers bounced right back with Cornell's two-bagger knocking in Wascavage to put UAH up 4-3.
-The Tritons then once again responded with a pair of runs in the bottom frame, but after a scoreless third for both teams, Nutt doubled in the go-ahead runs before Akles also hit a double to score a third to give the Chargers a 7-5 advantage.
-Providing her team with insurance, Malone hit a two-run double in the top of the fifth to produce the eventual 9-5 final.
 
Noteworthy
-The three steals mark a single-game high in Malone's career, and the seven steals for the team represent the highest total since swiping nine bags against Christian Brothers on March 18 of last year.
-UAH recorded five or more doubles in just three games last year.
 
Saint Leo 13, UAH 5
Game Changer
-Saint Leo scored three times in the fourth inning to turn a two-run advantage into a five-run margin that the Chargers would not be able to overcome.
 
Inside the Box Score
-SLU outhit UAH by a 17-9 margin in the game.
-Six of UAH's hits came from the 5-6-7 spots in the lineup as each of Amber Hammonds, Akles, and Nutt had a pair.
-Nutt and Akles both had a home run in the game with the blast from Akles knocking in a pair on hers and Nutt's a solo shot.
-Uhlman was charged with the loss in the circle for the Chargers.
 
Key Plays
-Saint Leo laid claim to an early 4-0 lead after scoring a run in the top of the first and three more in the second, but the Chargers got right back in it in the top of the second with two swings of the bat as Akles and Nutt went back-to-back to make it 4-3.
-The Lions then scored the run in the third and the three in the fourth to go up 8-3 before adding another pair in the top of the sixth to take a 10-3 advantage.
-UAH's final pair of runs came in the bottom of the sixth when Wascavage singled in a run and Cornell knocked in another on a productive groundout, and SLU created the 13-5 final with three runs in the seventh.
 
Noteworthy
-Akles now has 15 career home runs as the reining GSC Freshman of the Year had 14 a season ago.