COLUMBUS, Ga. - West Alabama softball fell to Flagler College of the Peach Belt Conference 9-3 in the opening game of day two at the PBC/GSC Southern Softball Showdown in Columbus, Georgia.
 
The Tigers fall to 0-3 on the season, while Flagler College improves to 2-4.
 
"We are still working on finding the right combination of players," UWA head coach Carie Dever-Boaz said. "There have been costly base running mistakes, and we are not having the timely hits we need to set up scoring opportunities All in all, I am still pleased with the progress the girls are making."
 
The Saints broke the game open in the third inning with a grand slam over right field by right fielder Maddy Murphy, propelling FC to a 4-0 lead.
 
UWA senior pitcher Ashley Stassin responded in the bottom of the third with a two-run blast over left field, cutting the Saints' lead in half. After Audrey Diekmann reached on a single, she advanced to third on a wild pitch before a Saint throwing error allowed the junior to score, sending the Tigers into the field down 4-3.
 
Flagler tacked on five runs over the next three innings and left five Tiger baserunners stranded to keep West Alabama scoreless for the remainder of the game, securing a 9-3 non-conference victory.
 
Stassin went 3-for-3 at the plate, picking up two RBIs on her first home run of the season. Diekmann went 2-for-2 with one run. Jenna Goldsmith plated a run for the Tigers as well.
 
Maddy Murphy picked up four RBI's on a third inning grand slam and finished 4-for-4 at the plate. Mackenzie Conley plated two runs in three hits, while Whitney Woodard finished with two runs on two hits.
 
Flager's Katelynn Smith (1-2) gets the win for the Saints, allowing three runs on eight hits while facing 33 batters. Andrea Edmonds (0-2) took the loss for the Tigers, giving up six runs on ten hits in 3.2 innings of work.
 
The Tigers will wrap up the Southern Softball Showdown against the Montevallo Falcons. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m. CST. Tune in or keep up with live stats at uwathletics.com.