PENSACOLA, Fla. | The UAH softball team earned a 3-1 victory over West Alabama on Thursday afternoon in the NCAA South Regional 2 at the UWF Softball Complex.
The Chargers struck first in the third inning, when Mia Brown drove in the opening run with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Jill Cockrell. Moments later, Brittany Slaten came around to score on a West Alabama fielding error, giving UAH a 2-0 advantage.
UAH added to its lead in the fifth inning when Gracie Ashley reached on an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt, allowing Alexa Douthitt to score and extend the lead to 3-0.
West Alabama broke through in the sixth inning with a solo home run, but the Chargers' pitching staff shut the door the rest of the way to secure the win.
Slaten and Douthitt paced the offense with multi-hit performances, while Mia Brown contributed an RBIÂ as UAH finished with eight hits in the contest.
In the circle, Katie Bracken (18-10) earned the win after tossing 5.0 innings, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out 10. Megan Shurtz provided a strong relief, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings with three strikeouts to preserve the victory.
UAH will return to action Saturday at noon in the NCAA South Regional Championship Game against the winner of the matchup between West Alabama and West Florida.
