OXFORD, Ala. | The third-seeded University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team dropped its opening game of the 2021 Gulf South Conference Softball Championship tournament, falling 4-3 to sixth-seeded Mississippi College before rebounding with a 2-1 win over seventh-seeded Lee to remain alive in the postseason event.
 
UAH will now take on the loser of Auburn Montgomery and West Georgia on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
 
Pitching and defense was the name of the contest against Lee, highlighted by Layton Murphy going the distance in the circle and an especially strong play by Lila Young at short that ended the contest.
 
Murphy scattered eight hits across the seven innings, walking just two and striking out a pair on her way to her 15th victory of the season. 
 
The most difficult innings of the contest for Murphy came in the bottom of the fourth when the Flames pushed across their lone run before the UAH pitcher induced a flyout and a groundout to leave the bases loaded, and Lee would string together three straight one-out singles in the bottom of the seventh before Young snagged a line drive out of the air and touched the bag at second for a game-ending double play. 
 
UAH's only run production in the contest came in the half inning before Lee got on the board, as Shelby Booker tripled into the gap in left-center to plate both Kiara Akles and Mackenzie Nutt to give the Chargers a 2-0 lead.
 
Booker finished the contest 2-for-2 with the two RBI.
 
In the day's first game, the Choctaws jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as they pushed a pair of runs across in the first, but UAH would answer in the second when Gracie Green belted a double to left-center to score Kaylee Vaught and Alaina Hampton, tying the game at 2-2.
 
A solo shot for MC's McCall Lee in the top of the third pushed the Choctaws back in front at 3-2, and the score would remain that way until the bottom of the fifth when Young singled in Akles to create a 3-3 deadlock before UAH would leave the bases loaded to end the inning.
 
After a 1-2-3 inning for both teams in the sixth, Mississippi College would get two singles to start the inning, allowing a double-play ball to still score a run, and it would prove to be the difference in the game as UAH would threaten in the seventh but was unable to score. 
 
Young finished the game with three of UAH's eight hits, while both Vaught and Akles had a pair including a double for Akles.
 
Taking the tough-luck setback in the circle was Grace O'Berry who pitched 4.2 innings of relief, allowing just three hits and an unearned run while striking out three.