HUNTSVILLE | Finally at home at Charger Park, the 25th-ranked University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team split with a tough Auburn Montgomery team on Saturday, winning 6-5 in walk-off fashion in the series opener before falling 4-2 in the nightcap. The Chargers are now 13-7 (8-6 Gulf South Conference), while the Warhawks improve to 16-3 (8-3 GSC).
 
Next Time Out
-The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday with first pitch in the rubber match slated for 1 p.m. at Charger Park.
 
UAH 6, Auburn Montgomery 5
Game Changer
-With the bases loaded and two runs already in, Alaina Hampton singled into left center to plate Shelby Booker and MacKenzie Nutt, giving the Chargers the 6-5 win in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Inside the Box Score
-AUM outhit the Chargers by a 7-6 margin.
-Hampton finished the contest going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Kiara Akles also had two RBI in the game.
-Ashley Cornell and Gracie Green both crossed the plate twice.
-Grace O'Berry pitched the final 2.2 innings, surrendering three hits and striking out a pair while earning the victory.
 
Key Plays
-The Chargers opened the scoring when Akles singled down the left field line in the bottom of the first, plating Cornell and pushing the Chargers in front 1-0, and it would be a 2-0 lead for UAH in the second when Cornell drove in Green with a base hit up the middle.
-AUM then would score a run in each of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to go up 5-2 heading into UAH's final at-bat of the contest.
-Green led off the home half of the seventh with a single through the right side, she moved to second after Cornell was hit by a pitch, and the bases would be full of Chargers after Booker singled up the middle with one out. 
-An error allowed Nutt to reach and Green to score to make it a 5-3 game, and Akles would be hit by a pitch to force in Cornell and cut UAH's deficit to just one with only one out in the inning.
-That is when Hampton fouled off three straight pitches before depositing the fourth pitch she saw into the grass in left, scoring Booker and Nutt and giving the Chargers the victory.
 
Noteworthy
-Akles moves her season RBI total to 19, while Hampton now has 13 on the year.
-O'Berry moves to 3-1 on the season with the win.
 
Auburn Montgomery 4, UAH 2
Game Changer
-AUM sent eight to the plate and scored three times in the third to take control of the contest.
 
Inside the Box Score
-Hits were even in the game at seven for each team.
-Each of Booker, Nutt, and Laura Harbin had a pair of hits in the game, with Nutt having a double in addition to a single.
-Kiara Akles was charged with the loss after giving up three hits and three runs, but none of the runs were earned for Akles as the Chargers ended up committing a pair of errors in the game.
 
Key Plays
-The game was scoreless until the third when AUM plated the three runs, and the guests would maintain their 3-0 lead until the home fourth when Harbin singled in Nutt to make it a 3-1 game.
-The Warhawks added a run in the sixth to go up 4-1.
-Heather Thompson would score UAH's second run in the bottom of the seventh after stealing third and scoring on an error.
-The Chargers would bring the winning run to the plate but stranded a pair of runners in the inning to end the contest.
 
Noteworthy
-Nutt has a team-best five doubles now on the year.
-Harbin's two-hit showing is her first multi-hit game as a Charger.