In a well-played battle from start to finish No. 21 Alabama Huntsville outlasted the Lee softball team, 3-1 in Saturday evening's Gulf South Conference series opener from Butler Field.
The Lady Flames threatened late as they loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning before the Chargers ace, Tyler Harrison induced a game-ending pop up to seal the victory and improve to 4-2 on the year. Harrison worked around eight hits and struck out five in going the distance.
Leigh Beatenbough (3-3) was the tough-luck loser.
The junior from Canon, Ga. allowed three runs on six hits, walked two and struck out two. Freshman Taylor Moran came on to work the final inning and struck out the side while allowing one base hit.
Beatenbough helped her own cause in the second inning as she delivered a sharp single thru the right side to score Brooklynn Fraizer and cut the Huntsville lead to 2-1. Frazier roped her third double of the year to start the frame.
Courtney Crawford executed two bunt base hits to perfection and Kayla Louie followed with a pair of singles in the ballgame. Moran singled in her only plate appearance while Stevie Baird singled and drew a 10-pitch walk to load the bases in the seventh inning.
Kaitlyn Bannister showcased why she was a preseason All-GSC member. The hard hitting third baseman had a double and two singles in four trips to the plate for the Chargers. Bannister is now hitting a sizzling .532 on the season.
The loss drops the Lady Flames to 9-4 overall and 0-1 in league play. UAH improves to 10-3 and 1-0 on the year. The two teams will wrap up the series with a doubleheader tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Fans who unable to attend can watch and follow live stats of all the action at portal.stretchinternet.com/lee.