LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 27, 2024) – The University of North Alabama softball team punched its ticket to the postseason Saturday, using explosive offense, solid pitching and lockdown defense to sweep a doubleheader at Bellarmine by 7-1 and 9-1 finals in Louisville, Ky.
The dominant wins were highlighted by a pair of grand slams from middle infielders
Haven Kirby and
Hailey Jones in the late innings. Kirby put the game out of reach in the seventh inning of game one, while Jones capped off an eight-run rally in the sixth inning of game two.
With the victories, UNA has clinched an automatic berth into the 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Championships set for May 7-11 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala. The top eight seeds make the tournament and the top four earn a first round bye from the single elimination round.
UNA sits fourth in the league standings with a 13-7 conference record. Bellarmine remains in the hunt, but is on the outside looking in with a 5-15 conference record. Overall, the Lions improve to 32-15, while the Knights dip to 13-30.
The Lions have won at least one game in every series, but are now on the hunt for their second ASUN sweep with the series finale set for Sunday at 10 a.m.
Game 1 — North Alabama 7, Bellarmine 1
The Lions scored in the first inning and never looked back, cruising to a dominant 7-1 victory in the series opener.
UNA won in all three phases of the game, including nine hits from seven different players. The most impactful of those hits came in the final inning off the bat of Kirby, extended a 3-0 lead to 7-0 with a grand slam.
Kirby and fellow infielder
Lillyanna Cartee led the offense with two hits apiece, including a double from each player. Cartee reached in all four of her plate appearances with a walk, double, single and hit-by-pitch, respectively.
While the bats were working, the defense was flawless with no errors for the 25th time this season — improving to 19-6 when not committing an error. This supported another routine day in the circle, as junior ace
Alivia Wilken went 6.0 innings with no runs allowed and just two hits, one walk and three strikeouts. Redshirt freshman
Kyleigh Pitzer replaced her in the seventh and allowed a solo homer, but nothing else to close the door.
Wilken has a 5-0 record in her last five starts, all of which limited the opponent to one run or less.
The scoring started in the first inning as three-spot hitter
Hailey Jones tripled and scored on a wild pitch above the catcher's mitt. The next run came in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Kirby and Cartee. Centerfielder
McKenzie Patterson subbed in defensively and hit a sac fly in her first plate appearance in the sixth, scoring Jones to make it 3-0.
While UNA put three runs on the board, Wilken twirled a two-hit shutout with the only Bellarmine hits being singles. The second single came in the sixth from the leadoff spot, but was instantly erased by a Kirby-Cartee double play.
Using that momentum,
Raegan Clem and
Felicity Frame hit back-to-back singles while Jones walked to load the bases. This allowed Kirby to put the game out of reach with a deep shot to left field.
Bellarmine DP Chloe Collins got one back with a solo homer, but that would be all as Pitzer finished the job four batters later — topped off with a strikeout.
Pitchers of Record
W –
Alivia Wilken (16-6)
L – Carson Goatley (1-10)
S – None
Game 2 — North Alabama 9, Bellarmine 1 (6 innings)
Game two started close but took an unexpected turn in the sixth inning as the Lions rallied for eight runs, forced the mercy rule and swiftly swept the doubleheader.
Today marks the third time UNA has won by mercy rule this season, as the other two came at home against Maryland Eastern Shore. The Lions tallied nine hits in the nightcap, including four in the final inning.
The Lions struck first with a homer from true freshman
Briley Dover, but Bellarmine tied things up in the third with an RBI single from Collins. On the same play, Bellarmine tried to score two runs, but Frame threw a perfect laser to Clem for the out at the plate.
The game remained tied until the sixth inning, where back-to-back one out singles by Kirby and Cartee put a chink in the armor. Patterson came up with the bases loaded and walked for the go-ahead run, then three straight errors made it a 5-1 UNA lead. Jones busted things open with her grand slam, making it 9-1 and putting the mercy rule in effect.
In the circle was junior
Cassidy Duskin, who shut the door in the sixth. She allowed just one run on four hits over 6.0 innings, while walking two and striking out one. Duskin has allowed two or less runs in six of her last eight starts, including a win over EKU.
Kirby led the team with a 3-for-4 day, while Dover added two hits.
Pitchers of Record
W –
Cassidy Duskin (11-8)
L – Claire Lehmkuhler (9-15)
S – None
COMING UP NEXT
The series concludes tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
