HUNTSVILLE | The No. 18 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team made it a clean sweep of No. 2 Valdosta State on Sunday, winning 5-3 at Charger Park to take all three games from the visitors this weekend. UAH concludes the regular season at 30-10 (23-7 Gulf South Conference), while the Blazers fall to 32-6 (25-5 GSC).
 
Game Changer
-With two outs in the sixth and the game tied at 2-2, Kiara Akles belted one out to left, over the outstretched hand of the VSU outfielder for a three-run homer that would prove to be the difference maker in the contest.
 
Inside the Box Score
-The Chargers pounded out 13 hits in the contest compared to eight for visitors.
-The top of the lineup was especially impressive in the game with Mackenzie Nutt going 3-for-4 with two runs from the leadoff position, while Shelby Booker in the second spot was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and third batter Ashley Cornell was also 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
-Matching Nutt with a three hit game was Kayle Vaught who also drove in a run.
-Akles went the distance in earning the win in the circle, working around the eight hits and four walks while giving up just the three runs as Valdosta State left eight on base.
 
Key Plays
-VSU homered in the first at-bat of the game to take an early 1-0 lead, and an error in the top of the third allowed a second run to score to put the Blazers up 2-0.
-In the bottom of the fifth, UAH would tie the contest up at 2-2 as Cornell singled in Nutt who had legged out an infield single to start the inning and Vaught on a base hit up the middle drove in Booker who had reached on a bunt single earlier in the frame. 
-UAH's first three batters in the sixth reached, and after an unlucky fly out double play, Akles stepped to the plate with two outs and both Booker and Nutt on base, and she deposited the 0-1 pitch over the fence in left to put the Chargers up 5-3.
-The Blazers would get a run back in the top of the seventh and had the bases loaded, but Akles would work out of the jam, giving her team the weekend sweep of VSU.
 
Noteworthy
-Akles now has 11 home runs on the season of which eight have come at Charger Park, and she increases her RBI total to 46.
-UAH held Valdosta State to their lowest three-game series run total on the year with 12, and the four home runs VSU hit match the lowest total it has had in a conference set this season.
-UAH is now 73-49 all-time against VSU including a 35-16 mark in Huntsville.
 
Next Time Out
-UAH has earned the No. 3 seed in next week's GSC Softball Championship tournament and will open the event against No. 6 seed Mississppi College on Thursday in Oxford, Alabama.