PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Florida softball team split a thrilling doubleheader with No. 15 Alabama Huntsville on Saturday, taking a 5-4 extra-innings win and a 3-2 loss in Game 2. UWF is now 9-4 on the year with a 4-1 Gulf South Conference record.
 
Teala Howard had three hits and two runs to lead UWF in those categories, and Kara Wilson's home run in Game 2 gave her two RBIs, which also led the Argonauts. Montana Young threw 5.0 total innings across the two games and struck out five batters without issuing a walk.
 
The series comes to a close on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm at the UWF Softball Complex.
 
GAME 1: UWF 5, No. 15 UAH 4 (8 innings)
The action started early in the first game of the doubleheader. Teala Howard led off the game with a bunt single and quickly stole second, before a grounder from Kara Wilson was mishandled by UAH and allowed Howard to score.
 
UAH bounced back with two runs in the second, with a double from Mackenzie Nutt and a home run from Alaina Hampton, giving the Chargers a 2-1 lead after two innings.
 
Kelsey Sweatt turned in a solid start, going four innings but allowing four runs. But the senior gave up just three hits and struck out four batters before turning the ball over to freshman Montana Young in the fifth.  
 
After Sweatt and UAH starter Layton Murphy traded zeroes in the third, the real fireworks began in the fourth.
 
Down 2-1, Angela Agurkis led off the inning with a single to left field and Jacquelynne Poling drew a walk to put two on with nobody out. As she has all month long, right fielder Courtney McLellan delivered just a batter later. She lined a single to left field, and pinch-runner Laurynn Boggs got around the tag on the throw home to even the score at 2-2.
 
But UWF was not done in the inning. Freshman Madilynne Webb pinch-hit and singled to right, scoring Poling, before Grace Gilbert lifted a sacrifice fly in foul territory to score McLellan, giving UWF a 4-2 advantage.
 
Sweatt was able to get through the fourth without too much damage done, though UAH would even the score on a wild pitch and a single through the left side.
 
Young entered in the fifth inning and was sharp immediately. She cruised through the fifth and sixth with little trouble, and got two outs in the seventh before a bunt single from UAH's Shelby Booker. The threat was extinguished when Booker attempted to steal second, and Poling's throw combined with shortstop Mika Garcia's acrobatic tag to get the out and send the game to extra innings.
 
UWF started the eighth with an Ally Merrill single, and Kayanna Perez came on as the pinch-runner. Poling was then hit by a pitch to put Perez on second, where second baseman Mallory Vining delivered the game-winner. Vining put a single into left and Perez flew home, evading the tag and scoring the go-ahead run.
 
The fireworks weren't done, however. UAH's Ashley Cornell led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and advanced to second on a fielder's choice. With two outs, Kaylee Vaught singled off the wall in center, but Kara Wilson connected with Garcia on the relay, and Garcia threw a bullet to Poling at home, where she tagged out Cornell to end the game.
                                                 
GAME 2: UWF 2, No. 15 UAH 3
The second half of the doubleheader was a classic pitcher's duel, between Grace Gilbert and UAH's Kiara Akles. The two pitchers combined for 12 innings in the circle, with 10 hits allowed and 11 strikeouts.
 
It looked like the offenses would be the story in Game 2, at least early on. Howard led off the game by reaching on an error, and Wilson blasted her fourth home run of the year, off the scoreboard beyond left field. That gave UWF the 2-0 lead before Mackenzie Nutt hit her own home run – a solo shot – in the bottom of the first.
 
That would be all the offense either team could put together until the fifth. UAH started the inning with back-to-back singles off Gilbert, putting runners on first and third with no outs. Gilbert worked out of the jam without too much damage done, however, getting a 4-3 double play from Mallory Vining, that scored the game-tying run.
 
Tied 2-2 in the fifth, UAH's Alaina Hampton reached on an error and Lila Young hit a ball to deep left field that was caught by Morgan Zettle on the fence to save a run from scoring and keep the game tied.
 
Akles helped her own cause in the bottom of the sixth, leading off the inning with a home run off Montana Young that would prove to be the game-winner.