DECATUR, Ala. – The University of West Alabama softball team split the final day of the Gulf South Conference Crossover as UWA rallied for a 4-2 win over Ouachita Baptist and dropped the final game of the weekend to Arkansas Tech, 7-4.
UWA finishes the weekend 4-3 against the GSC West and 30-20 on the season. The Tigers moved to 9-12 in conference play as they are battling North Alabama for the final GSC Tournament spot. UNA visits Livingston next Sunday.
In the morning session, UWA put together its third-straight final at bat come-from behind win as it plated four runs in the seventh and held off an OBU rally for the win. After trailing 1-0 on a solo home run by Megan Askew to start the OBU first, the Red and White strung together five hits in the inning with the key hit coming from Kelli Hartley as she drove in a pair of runs. Powell played the fourth run with a single to left.
After giving up the solo home run, UWA starter Katie Ford allowed just three hits the rest of the way in a complete game performance. Ford posted ten strikeouts en route to her 22nd win of the season. The Purple and Gold touched her for a run in the seventh on a two-out RBI from Jana Deen. Anna Shartzer and Stephanie Beahn paced UWA at the dish with a pair of hits each. Shartzer extended her hitting streak to 12 games with hits against OBU and ATU.
Against The Golden Suns, UWA maintained the hot bats as it took an early 2-0 lead in the opening frame. The Tigers touched ATU starter Morgan Rodgers with three hits, including a pair of RBI singles from Powell and Hanna. UWA starter Hannah Billingsley kept the Golden Suns at bay until the third and fourth as they put together all seven runs in those two spots. Entering the fourth down 2-1, ATU exploded for six runs on seven hits. ATU laid down back-to-back bunt singles to take the lead and added three more runs to break the game open.
Hanna added UWA's final runs on a two-run shot over the left field fence. The round tripper by Hanna was the first of the weekend by the Red and White. ATU reliever Chelsea Evanoff picked up the win, while Billingsley was saddled with the loss.
The Tigers return to the diamond on Tuesday, April 13, in Demopolis, Ala. to face Judson College. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Demopolis Sportsplex.
