CLEVELAND, Miss. | Kiara Akles tossed the program's 27th no-hitter, helping the No. 8 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team pick up a Saturday sweep of Delta State as the Chargers won 8-0 in five innings in the first game before taking a 2-1 victory in the nightcap. UAH is now 30-8 (14-3 Gulf South Conference), while DSU slips to 19-16 (9-11 GSC).
 
Next Time Out
-The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday at noon.
 
UAH 8, Delta State 0 (5 inn.)
Game Changer
-Akles faced just one over the minimum as she struck out six and walked only one in tossing the second no-hitter of the season for the Chargers, joining Sydnee Uhlman who tossed a perfect game earlier this year against Tuskegee.
 
No-No Info
-For Akles, this is the second no-hitter of her career as the sophomore also tossed one against Miles on April 25 of last season.
-This is UAH's first no-hitter against a GSC opponent since Whitney Gilbert did not allow a hit to North Alabama on April 30, 2010.
-This is the first time the Chargers have thrown multiple no-hitters in a season since that 2010 year when the team had three – all of which came in the month of April.
 
Inside the Box Score
-The Chargers had seven hits in the game including a double and three home runs.
-Each of Shannon Long, Ashley Cornell, and Akles had a homer in the contest with Cornell's a two-run shot and Akles belting a three-run jack.
-Cornell scored a team-best twice for the Chargers.
-Seven different Chargers had a hit in the game.
 
Key Plays
-The scoring started for UAH in the third when Long homered to left on an 0-2 pitch, and the Chargers would go up 3-0 in the top of the fourth when Cornell sent one out to right with Jada Hayes aboard after she led off the inning with a single.
-Hayes started the scoring in a five-run fifth for UAH when her productive ground out plated Reagan Malone who had doubled earlier in the inning, and the guests would go up 5-0 when Amber Hammonds singled in Shelby Booker.
-Akles then aided her own cause, putting the Chargers ahead 8-0 when she belted a three-run homer before retiring the side in order in the bottom of the fifth to end the contest via the run rule.
 
Noteworthy
-Long's home run is ninth of the year, while Cornell and Akles both now have six on the season.
-The six strikeouts for Akles are the second-most of the year for the sophomore.
-Akles is now 6-1 in the circle.
 
UAH 2, Delta State 1
Game Changer
-Hayes belted a leadoff homer to start the sixth, pushing the Chargers in front and ultimately winning the game for her team.
 
Inside the Box Score
-The contest was a pitcher's duel, with the teams combining for just seven hits with four coming from UAH.
-Booker, Hayes, Akles, and Taylor Wascavage had the hits for UAH.
-Sydnee Uhlman earned the victory in the circle for the guests as she tossed four innings of relief work, giving up just two hits, striking out one, and walking none.
-Ava Jacobs started the game for the Chargers, going three innings and allowing just one hit and an unearned run while also striking out one.
 
Key Plays
-Delta State scored first, claiming an early 1-0 lead by taking advantage of a UAH error to score in the bottom of the second.
-In the top of the fourth, Booker reached on a bunt single, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Hayes, and then later scored when Akles singled to short with two outs in the inning, tying the game at 1-1.
-Uhlman stranded a runner at third in the bottom of the fourth to keep the game deadlocked and did the same thing in the bottom of the fifth, allowing Hayes to take the first pitch she saw in the sixth and deposit it over the fence in right to put the Chargers up 2-1.
-A double play ended the Delta State sixth, and Uhlman worked around a one-out hit in the seventh to end the game.
 
Noteworthy
-Uhlman is now 9-1 in the circle on the year.
-Hayes now has six home runs and a team-high 42 RBI on the season.
-The Chargers have turned a GSC-best 17 double plays on the year.