GULF SHORES, Ala. | The No. 11 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team concluded play at the Gulf Shores Invitational on Sunday, falling 6-3 to Nova Southeastern before ending the weekend on a positive note with a victory over Lander by that same score. UAH is now 3-3 on the year.
 
Next Time Out
-UAH will now return to Huntsville to host the annual Charger Chillout next weekend. Play begins on Friday at the Huntsville Sportsplex with a noon tilt against Bellarmine.
 
UAH 6, Lander 3
Game Changer
-Reagan Malone went 3-for-3 from the top of the order with two doubles, driving in a run and scoring three times herself to help the Chargers pick up the victory.
 
Inside the Box Score
-UAH outhit Lander by an 8-7 margin in the contest with Malone's three leading the way for the Chargers, while Taylor Wascavage had a pair of hits.
-Shelby Booker and Kiara Akles were responsible for the other two hits for UAH with Akles giving the Chargers three hits for extra bases as she logged a double.
-Mackenzie Nutt recorded two more RBI in the contest.
-Malone added two stolen bases.
-Akles picked up the win in the circle for UAH, tossing 4.0 innings of relief, scattering five hits and allowing three runs, while Sydnee Uhlman tossed the final 1.1 innings to earn the save.
 
Key Plays
-Nutt's first RBI of the contest came in the three-run first as she had a sac fly that plated Malone, and after Booker scored on a wild pitch, the Chargers would go up 3-0 when Wascavage singled in Akles after she had doubled earlier in the inning.
-The score remained that way until the fourth when Lander scored a pair, but the Chargers answered right back with a Malone double and a Booker single both driving in runs to push the Chargers back ahead by three at 5-2.
-Lander scored a run in the top of the sixth to make it 5-3, but a productive groundout by Nutt in the bottom frame of the sixth scored Malone and created the 6-3 final.
 
Noteworthy
-For the weekend, Malone batted .471 with eight hits in 17 at-bats, and she also totaled five walks for an on-base percentage of .591.
-Nutt leads the team after the six games with 10 RBI, and she is slugging at an impressive .944 clip after posting seven hits of which five were for extra bases.
-Akles tallies her first win of the season in the circle, while Uhlman earns her second save.
 
Nova Southeastern 6, UAH 3
Game Changer
-The Sharks scored four times in the first two innings to create a lead that would prove to be insurmountable.
 
Inside the Box Score
-NSU held an 8-5 advantage in hits in the contest, with Malone being the only Chargers to have multiple ones as she went 2-for-2 with a three-run homer.
-Kelly Ann Sanders, Ashley Cornell, and Wascavage had the other hits for UAH.
-The Chargers drew nine walks in the contest, including a pair by both Malone and Nutt.
-Layton Murphy was charged with the loss in the circle for UAH.
 
Key Plays
-NSU claimed a 1-0 lead after the first and added onto that with three runs in the second to go up 4-0, and the score remained that way until the fourth inning.
-With Cornell leading the inning off with a walk followed by a base hit from Wascavage, Malone knocked in both and then came all the way around to score for an inside-the-park home run on a ball she hit down the left field line, cutting UAH's deficit to just one at 4-3.
-The Sharks, however, would pick up some insurance with a pair of runs in the sixth in producing the 6-3 final.
 
Noteworthy
-Malone's home run was UAH's fourth of the weekend and the first of the season for her to give the junior seven for her career.