VALDOSTA, Ga. | The No. 25 University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team fell on the road at No. 2 Valdosta State on Saturday, dropping the opener of the series 11-3 before falling 6-5 in the nightcap of the doubleheader. UAH slips to 8-3 (0-2 Gulf South Conference), while VSU improves to 8-2 (2-0 GSC).
 
The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday, and first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
 
Valdosta State 11, UAH 3 (F/6 inn.)
In the day's first game, UAH put together a three-run fourth to take a 3-2 lead, but the hosts would plate five runs in the fifth before scoring four times in the sixth to end the game early.
 
The Blazers were aided by a 12-3 difference in hits in the game.
 
Sadie Thompson, Lila Young, and Mackenzie Nutt had the hits for UAH.
 
Layton Murphy took the loss in the circle for the Chargers.
 
After falling behind 2-0 with the hosts scoring a run in each of the second and third innings, UAH would capitalize on a pair of errors by Valdosta State in the top of the fourth as Shelby Booker reached on one and scored on Nutt's infield single before Sadie Thompson reached on another error later in the inning, allowing two more runs to score.
 
VSU quickly responded, however, with four hits and five runs in the fifth and three hits and four runs in the sixth.
 
Valdosta State 6, UAH 5
The second game was tilted towards UAH for much of the affair before VSU used another big sixth to take the victory.
 
The Chargers outhit the Blazers by a 9-7 margin in the contest, with Kaylee Vaught going 3-for-5 with two RBI from the top of the lineup to lead UAH offensively. 
 
Alaina Hampton registered UAH's only hit for extra bases of the day with her team-best sixth of the season, and Lila Young and Thompson both also had an RBI in the contest.
 
Megan Shurtz went the distance in the setback in the circle for UAH.
 
After VSU went ahead 1-0 in the first, a Vaught single with two outs in the second plated Lawryn Hayes to tie the contest, and after a 1-2-3 inning from Shurtz, UAH would put three up on the board in the third with Thompson, Harbin, and Vaught all driving in a run in the inning to make it 4-1.
 
Hampton then doubled in the UAH half of the fourth and crossed the plate on Young's base hit later in the frame to give the Chargers a 5-1 advantage. 
 
Shurtz was especially strong before the sixth as after giving up a single to the first batter she faced, she would face the minimum of 15 batters heading into the sixth, but VSU's bats came to life with five hits and five runs in the inning to go up 6-5 on its way to the win.