HUNTSVILLE | Extending its winning streak to eight in dramatic fashion, The University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team used a pair of thrilling wins to earn a doubleheader sweep of visiting Lincoln Memorial on Thursday afternoon at Charger Park. UAH won 6-5 in the first game before walking off with a 7-6 victory in the nightcap.
 
UAH is now 29-14 on the season, while LMU slips to 32-14.
 
The Chargers will be back in action this weekend in the Peach State, traveling for a three-game set at Shorter that starts with a 1 p.m. CT doubleheader on Saturday.
 
UAH 6, Lincoln Memorial 5
Lincoln Memorial outhit the Chargers by a slim 7-6 margin in the contest, but the UAH bats made a big impact late to help the hosts erase a 5-0 deficit in their final two at-bats of the contest.
 
Mackenzie Nutt had the biggest swing, with one of her two hits in the contest being the go-ahead two-run jack in bottom of the sixth, and that came after Kiara Akles hit a three-run bomb in the fifth that pulled the Chargers to within a run. 
 
Lila Young had a double and scored, while Kaylee Vaught finished 1-for-2 with a sac fly giving her an RBI.
 
Picking up the win in the circle for the Chargers was Grace O'Berry who tossed four strong innings of relief, not allowing a run while scattering four hits and striking out three.
 
The hosts found themselves trailing 4-0 when the Railsplitters put a four-spot on the board in the second, and the guests tacked onto their lead with another run in the fourth to make it 5-0. 
 
Going into their half of the fifth with only one hit to that point, Young led off the inning with the double and eventually scored on Vaught's sac fly, and after Shelby Booker walked to put a pair on for Akles, the UAH first baseman deposited the ball promptly over the fence in left for what was then her ninth home run of the season, pulling UAH to within one at 5-4.
 
O'Berry then would stand a pair of runners at second and third in the top of the sixth, and after Sadie Thompson led off the bottom half with a single, she would score when Nutt hit it out with two away in the inning, pushing the Chargers in front by what would end up being the 6-5 final.
 
O'Berry then needed just seven pitches to retire the side in order in the top of the seventh to seal the win.
 
UAH 7, Lincoln Memorial 6
The nightcap was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Chargers walk it off when Booker had an infield single and a miscue on the play permitted Gracie Green to scamper all the way home from second to give the Blue and White the triumph.
 
In total in the game, UAH outhit LMU by a wide 17-8 margin, as seven different Chargers had a multi-hit game including Booker who went 3-for-5 with an RBI. 
 
Each of Vaught, Akles, Nutt, Young, Jada Henderson, and Lawren Hayes all finished the contest with a pair of hits including a double for both Young and Henderson, while Akles belted her 10th home run of the year.
 
The two-run homer for Akles gives her 49 RBI on the season which leads the GSC.
 
Layton Murphy pitched the final three innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out one, and she moves to 12-7 on the year while also earning her 65th career victory which ties her with Whitney Toler for fifth all-time at UAH in career victories.
 
Akles gave the Chargers an early lead with the two-run homer in the bottom of the first, and after LMU scored in the second, Booker singled into right to score Green and give UAH an early 3-1 advantage.
 
The Railsplitters came right back, however, and scored three times in the third to go up 4-1, and after a scoreless third, UAH would tie it right back up at 4-4 in the fourth when Nutt drove in Hayes. It was then more of the same in the fifth as LMU went ahead 6-4 with another pair of runs, but a Henderson double plated Young before Hayes singled in Henderson to level the contest once more, this time at 6-6.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Laura Harbin pinch hit and singled into right before Green re-entered the game, and she moved to second on a sacrifice bunt – the third of the contest for UAH – from Hayes, allowing her to score when Booker singled to short before a miscue by the LMU defense.