Box Score - Game 1
Box Score Game 2
LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama softball team opened the 2010 season in convincing fashion as UWA swept Judson College on Thursday at a frigid UWA Softball Complex. The Tigers blanked the Eagles 8-0 in the opener and 14-4 in the night cap.
With the season-opening win, the Tigers are 3-0 in the season lid lifter under third-year head coach Will Atkinson.
UWA junior pitcher Katie Ford earned starting the nod on opening day and tossed a gem in her first outing as a Tiger. The junior college transfer from Johnson County Community College in Kansas kept the Eagles of Judson off balance in her five innings of work and gave the Tiger bats time to warm up in fourth inning. JC's lone scoring chance was negated on a home run saving catch by junior Angela Smith in deep center in the Eagle's half of the third. Ford finished with seven strike outs and one walk before giving way to senior Jessica Cervantes.
Junior Valisha Fincher started the four-run fourth with a bunt single. She later scored on a squeeze play from Kelli Hartley for UWA's first run. Hartley was plated on Ashley Frost's sacrifice fly and Megan Sloke, who reached via a double, scored on a fielding error by the left fielder.
A pair of home runs by Lauren Mill and Hartley highlighted the UWA fifth. Mills lifted one over the left field fence while Hartley went opposite field for a two-run shot. Hartley plated Stephanie Beahn, who sandwiched a two-bagger down the left field line between home runs. Senior Angela Hanna drove in the final run of the contest on a single to right center in the sixth.
In the second contest, the UWA sticks stayed warm from the final three at-bats in the opener, as the Tigers jumped on the Eagles 5-0 after the first inning. The Red and White batted around and stung together five of its 14 hits in the first at-bat. After JC trimmed the lead to 5-2 in the third, UWA added a pair of runs in the bottom half after freshman Anna Shartzer led off the inning with a double and scored on Angela Hanna's home run. The blast to centerfield was Hanna's first career home run at UWA. UWA plated six runs in the fourth to close out the game in the fifth. Three Tigers turned in doubles in the inning with the big hit coming from Brandi McGee's bases-clearing double.
In the circle, UWA's Hannah Billingsley pitched four innings to earn the win. The transfer from Darton College fanned a pair and allowed six hits. Cervantes pitched the fifth, striking out two of the five batters faced.
The Tigers will get their first road test of the season on Saturday, Feb. 13, as they travel to Jackson, Miss. to face NCAA Division III foe Millsaps. First Pitch is set for Noon.
