FLORENCE, Ala. – The University of West Alabama softball team pounded out an 11-5 Gulf South Conference East Division win over North Alabama in the second game of the doubleheader to gain a split on the opening day of GSC East play.  UNA topped UWA 8-1in the opener.

A two-out triple off the bat of Angela Smith broke a 5-5 deadlock in the fifth as she drove in a pair of runs to spark the Tiger bats.  UWA (18-6, 1-1 GSC) expanded the lead in the final two plate appearances with a run in the sixth and three in the seventh.  The Red and White took a 4-0 lead in the second inning only to see the Lions put together five runs in the next two frames.  Anna Shartzer's single up the middle evened the game in the fourth.  Shartzer turned in a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, including her RBI in the fourth.  UWA out-hit UNA 12-5 in the second game.

After a shaky start in her first appearance of the season, Hannah Griffin settled down to keep the Lions off the board in the final four innings.  Griffin, a transfer from the University of Southern Mississippi, gave up five runs off five hits and struck out a pair.  She pitched a 1-2-3 fourth before handing over the pitching duties to Katie Ford and Jessica Cervantes.

Junior Valisha Fincher drove in three runs on a pair of hits.  Fincher drove in Kelli Hartley in the sixth with a double down the left field line in the sixth.  Her other two RBI came in the seventh.  Stephanie Beahn and Smith turned in multiple hits in the game

UNA's Emily Barnes finished 3-for-5 to lead the Lions at the dish.

In the opening contest, a three-run UNA fourth broke open a 2-1 contest along with stellar pitching from Jennifer Sexton led the Lions to the 8-1 win in the opener.  After two outs were recorded in the fourth, Andrea Palmer connected on a two-run home run to highlight the frame.  Sexton baffled Tiger hitters all day as she tossed a one-hitter in the contest.  UWA's lone hit came in the first inning off the bat of Hartley.  The Red and White's run was an unearned run in the second.  Ashley Frost, who reached base with a walk, scored on UNA's second miscue of the frame.  Sexton fanned nine batters and walked just three in the complete game.  Ford suffered her first loss in a Tiger uniform.  Ford allowed six hits and just one strikeout.

The Tigers remain on the road as they take on NAIA foe Lambuth University on Sunday, March 14.  First pitch is set for Noon in Jackson, Tenn.