SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – The West Alabama softball team advances to the second day of the 2012 Gulf South Conference Tournament after ousting West Georgia 13-9 in an elimination game to close out the opening day of the tournament. The Tigers (32-22) dropped its opener 6-3 to Delta State.

The Red and White picked up five runs in its final three trips to the plate to outlast the Wolves after a back and forth battle through the first four innings of play.

Taylor Beck logged two hits in her last two at-bats in the contest as the Mesa, Ariz., native drove in three of the final five runs and also scored twice. Beck tallied a double in the seventh that scored Angela Arredondo and recorded a single in the fifth to plate Brooklynn Phillips and Morgan Morrison. The sophomore drove in six of the Tigers' 13 total runs while going a perfect 5-for-5 at the dish, including a double and a homerun.

Kelsey Cooper also drove in the run in the final frame with a double to scored Beck.

Kristen Skinner, who was saddled with the loss in the opener, picked up her 14th victory in the second contest in a relief appearance. The Toxey, Ala., native scattered three hits in three innings while giving up a run and fanning three hitters.

Hannah Griffin tossed the first four innings of the elimination outing with eight runs allowed on 11 hits with a walk.

Beck's solo homer came directly behind Rebecca Schick's three-run dinger that helped propel UWA to an 8-5 lead after the top of the fourth inning. The back-to-back homers capped a five-run inning for the Red and White as Beck collected on her first of the season while Schick added her 13th of the campaign.

UWG battled back in the home half of the inning to tie the contest as Nicole Yancey capped a five-run inning for the Wolves with a three-run homer of her own.

The Tigers couldn't find a way to disperse of the Lady Statesmen in the opener of the conference tournament as the Green and White hung around and took the lead at 3-2 in the fourth inning as Katie Hebert scored on a Kendall Sizemore bunt single marking the third straight base hit for DSU.

The Lady Statesmen added three runs in the sixth inning as Amber Adcock blasted a two-run homer to center field to cap the inning for the Lady Statesmen.

Stephanie Shoup attempted to start a rally for the Tigers in the seventh with a leadoff homer to right field marking her sixth of the season, but that would mark the end UWA's scoring output.

Skinner allowed two runs in the five innings of work on 10 hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts. Jessica Brock tossed the final two innings with two runs on two hits with two strikeouts.

West Alabama advances to play North Alabama at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Apr. 28 at the Greenbrook Softball Complex.