LIVINGSTON, Ala. – West Alabama softball split a Gulf South Conference double header with Lee University, falling 3-0 in an extra-inning opener before rebounding with a 3-1 victory in the second game at the UWA Softball Complex on Saturday.

The Tigers move to 18-19 overall and 9-11 in the league, while the Lady Flames now hold a 27-11 mark on the year with a 10-7 record in GSC action.

"We should have won both ball games today," UWA head coach Carie Dever-Boaz said. "[Andrea Edmonds] gave us a phenomenal performance. She had one bad inning, but it took until the ninth."

After eight innings of a defensive stalemate, the Lady Flames broke the scoreless tie in the top of the ninth. Abby McKinney drove in Stevie Baird, who reached on a walk before advancing to second on a single from Courtney Crawford, to put Lee up 1-0.

A wild pitch helped Crawford cross the plate, while a double off the bat of Brooklynn Frazier scored McKinney, extending the LU lead to a final 3-0.

"I don't feel like we made good adjustments offensively in the first game," Dever-Boaz said. "Their pitchers kept it off-speed, and that kept us off-balance; but, anytime your pitcher can keep a team to two hits in eight innings, you should win."

Audrey Diekmann and Chelsea Lobitos led Tiger batters with two hits each, while Sarah Beth King and Brianna Buie contributed a hit apiece. Baird, Crawford, McKinney, Frazier and Taylor Moran combined for one of each of the Lady Flames five hits.

Edmonds (13-15) takes the loss, allowing three runs in the ninth inning after sitting down a season-high 10 batters throughout the game. Moran (8-3) earns the win, giving up just two hits over 4.2 innings of work in relief of Leigh Beatenbough.

"I liked the way the girls responded after the Game 1 loss," Dever-Boaz said. "I got pretty rough and called them out in between games, but they answered the call."

UWA struck first in Game 2, capitalizing on a bases-loaded situation as Ashlend Rodriguez placed a single up the middle to drive King in for a 1-0 Tiger lead. A passed ball on the next at-bat allowed Ashley Smart to touch home from third, extending UWA's advantage to 2-0.

Back-to-back Lady Flame errors allowed the Tigers to tack on one run in the third, widening the margin to 3-0.

Lee answered in the top of the fourth, cutting the deficit to 3-1 on a solo shot over center field off the bat of Moran.

Edmonds disallowed a hit for the remainder of the contest and kept Lee's final two baserunners from crossing the plate to secure the win.

"This is the first time this year they responded and didn't melt," Dever-Boaz said. "From a coaching standpoint, that's a huge step. I know I sound like a broken record, but we don't play anybody but ourselves out there."

King, Craft and Rodriguez each recorded two hits in the win. Diekmann, Hague and Goldsmith collected one hit apiece. Moran collected both of Lee's hits.

Edmonds (14-15) earns the Game 2 win, striking out seven while allowing a pair of hits in her 15^th complete game of the season. Abby Mckinney (6-4) takes the loss, allowing one earned run on four hits in 1.1 innings pitched.

The Tigers and Lady Flames will decide the GSC series with Game 3 on Sunday. First pitch at the UWA Softball Complex is slated for 1 p.m.