LIVINGSTON, Ala. - Late innings allowed West Alabama to explode multiple hits to push the Tigers above Lee University in a Gulf South Conference doubleheader Friday evening at the UWA Softball Complex.
"The team really leaned into each other and the energy was spot on from the first pitch to the last," UWA head coach
Carie Dever-Boaz said. "We never wavered from our 'win the pitch' motto today. We were not perfect by any means but we competed."
With the wins, West Alabama improves to 15-18 overall and 11-15 in GSC play. Lee drops to 13-18 overall and 10-13 in the conference.
Game One
Down two runs late in the game, West Alabama scored six runs in the sixth to take a 7-5 win over Lee University in game one.
In the second, UWA scored first in the game. The Tigers took the lead when Grace Self homered to left center and West Alabama led 1-0.
Lee tied the game in the fourth at 1-1 and took a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth.
The Tigers turned the game around in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring six runs to take the lead back.
A two RBI bunt single by Kendall Johnson scored Morgan Windham and Cassie Matlock.
Peyton Coots reached on a fielder's choice scoring Chrissy Tubbs. Johnson scored on an error by the Flames shortstop.
Lexy House's two RBI single scored Kailey Hunt and Self. With the six runs, UWA took a 7-3 lead.
The Flames scored two runs in the seventh but still came up short as the Tigers took the win, 7-5.
Johnson led West Alabama and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Kacy Noland (7-8) pitched the complete game for the win. Noland gave up three earned runs on nine hits and two strikeouts.
Game Two
After falling behind early in game one of the doubleheader, West Alabama did it again and came back with a big inning to take a 5-4 win in game two.
Lee University took a 2-0 lead before UWA exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth.
In the fifth for the Tigers, Johnson hit a sacrifice fly to score Tubbs, Matlock scored on a wild pitch and Mynard homered to left center scoring Self and Nicole Buccieri.
The Flames scored two more runs in the seventh to close the gap to 5-4 but it wasn't enough as the Tigers closed out the game for the win.
Mynard (2-2) was the winning pitcher going seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts.
"We can enjoy it for the even4ing and need to get right back at it tomorrow. Our fans were great. Huge shout out tk the baseball team for being the 10th man today," Dever-Boaz said.
The Tigers are back in action tomorrow for a single game at UWA Softball Complex. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.
To stay connected with the UWA softball team, follow @UWASoftball on Instagram and @UWA_Softball on Twitter. General athletic news, along with game recaps and box scores, can be found at uwaathletics.com. Additional updates and information are available @UWAAthletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
