HUNTSVILLE | The No. 11 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team picked up a pair of wins on the opening day of the 2019 Charger Chillout, knocking off Bellarmine 4-1 before rolling past No. 12 Illinois Springfield 13-3 in five innings. The Chargers improve to 5-3 on the season with the pair of wins.
 
Next Time Out
-The Chargers continue play at the Sportsplex on Saturday, taking on Lincoln at 11 a.m. before battling No. 1 Southern Indiana at 1 p.m.
 
UAH 4, Bellarmine 1
Game Changer
-UAH received strong pitching, allowing just five hits over seven innings and just one unearned run, making a Taylor Wascavage triple and later run on a wild pitch hold up for the win.
 
Inside the Box Score
-The Chargers outhit Bellarmine 9-5 in the contest with Amber Hammonds leading UAH with a 2-for-3 showing.
-Shelby Booker, Mackenzie Nutt, Ashley Cornell, Jada Hayes, Kelly Ann Sanders, Shannon Long, and Wascavage were responsible for UAH's other hits.
-Hammonds, Wascavage, and Malone knocked in three of UAH's four runs.
-Five of UAH's hits were for extra bases with Booker, Nutt, and Hammonds having a double, while Wascavage and Long tripled.
-Gracie Deaton earned the win for the Chargers, scattering four hits and allowing just one run – an unearned tally – while striking out a pair and walking just one, and Sydnee Uhlman picked up a save by throwing the last three innings and surrendering just one hit while striking out four.
 
Key Plays
-The scoring started in the second inning when Hammonds doubled to lead off the bottom frame, and she later scored when Wascavage tripled into right field, and Wascavage then scampered home on a wild pitch to make it a two-run lead for the Chargers.
-Hammonds made it a 3-0 lead for the Chargers in the third when she singled in Nutt who had doubled earlier in the inning, and UAH went ahead 4-0 on a sac fly by Malone in the fourth that played Long who had tripled earlier in the frame.
-Bellarmine got on the board in the top of the fifth, but Uhlman entered the game in the frame and retired three straight to end the inning, part of a stretch that saw her retire nine of 10 to end the game.
 
Noteworthy
-The win for Deaton is her first career victory.
-Wascavage's triple is the first of her career.
 
UAH 13, Illinois Springfield 3 (5 inn.)
Game Changer
-After falling behind 3-0 in the first, Wascavage helped put the Chargers in front when she doubled with the bases loaded to put the team up 4-3 in the third.
 
Inside the Box Score
-UAH pounded out 14 hits to just five for Illinois Springfield, with Shelby Booker's three leading the way.
-Malone, Hammonds, Hayes, and Ashley Cornell had a pair of hits for the Chargers, and each of Booker, Wascavage, and Kelly Ann Sanders had a double with Hammonds hitting a triple.
-Wascavage's three RBI led the team, and each of Booker, Hammonds, and Sanders had a pair in the contest.
-Layton Murphy tossed a complete game in earning the victory in the circle, scattering five hits and allowing three hits while striking out one.
 
Key Plays
-The Prairie Stars scored three times in the first, and that 3-0 lead held until the bottom of the third when the Chargers would go in front.
-The scoring started for the Chargers when Nutt singled down the right field line to plate Malone, and after Hammonds was hit by a pitch and Cornell reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, Wascavage would double into right to score all three runs and give UAH a 4-3 advantage.
-UAH added a fifth run on a Booker double in the fourth, and the Chargers blew the game wide open with eight runs in the inning with a Hammonds triple ending the game at the 13-3 final.
 
Noteworthy
-Murphy is now 2-1 on the year.
-Wascavage finished the day with four RBI, and she has totaled six on the year.
-Nutt's RBI is her team-leading 11th of the season.