HUNTSVILLE | The 16th-ranked University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team picked up its 20th win of the season and its eighth consecutive by defeating visiting Lee 11-1 in five innings at Charger Park on Monday in a contest that was delayed for over four hours by morning rain. The Chargers improve to 20-6 (8-1 Gulf South Conference), while Lee slips to 10-14 (1-7 GSC).
 
Game Changer
-Jada Hayes drove in five runs including a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth that ended the contest to help the Chargers pick up the series sweep.
 
Inside the Box Score
-The Chargers doubled up Lee in hits, recording 12 to the six the Flames registered, and the Chargers were led by Ashley Cornell who went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a run scored.
-Shelby Booker turned in another strong contest by going 2-for-3 and scoring three times, while Hayes also had a multi-hit day with a pair to go along with the five RBI.
-Amber Hammonds finished the contest with a pair of RBI.
-UAH picked up five more stolen bases with Booker recording a team-high three.
-Layton Murphy earned the win in the circle, going the distance and scattering six hits and allowing just one run which came in the 10 minutes the teams were able to play prior to rain forcing a delay of more than four hours.
-Murphy finished the contest with four strikeouts.
 
Key Plays
-The Flames got a two-out run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead, but the Chargers quickly – in terms of game time, at least – pushed in front when Hammonds doubled in Malone and Booker who had reached to lead off the inning.
-A Cornell single plated Hammonds giving the Chargers a 3-1 advantage.
-An RBI single from Hayes, a run-scoring double off the bat of Cornell, and a Kiara Akles base hit all plated runs in the second to make it a 6-1 game, and the score would remain that way with Murphy stranding a pair of runners in the third and three more in the fourth.
-Murphy then tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth, and after Booker reached on an error with the bases loaded in the home half to put the Chargers up 7-1, Hayes promptly ended the game with a no-doubter to center that created the 11-1 final.
 
Noteworthy
-The five RBI for Hayes are a single-game high by a Charger this season, and she regains the lead in RBI on the team with 24.
-Cornell has recorded two RBI in three straight and in six of the last seven games, giving her 23 for the season.
-Murphy is now 5-3 on the season in the circle.
-This marks UAH's ninth game with at least five stolen bases, and the team has totaled 101 on the year.
 
Next Time Out
-The Chargers will head back out on the road this weekend, traveling to West Georgia for a three-game set. The series starts with a noon CT doubleheader on Saturday.