FLORENCE – The University of North Alabama softball team won a pair of elimination games on Saturday to stay alive in the NCAA Division II Softball South 2 Regional. The Lions knocked off Tampa 6-0 and Rollins 2-1 to advance to the final round. UNA will play Florida Tech at 1 p.m., needing to win twice in order to advance to the super regional round the following week.Against Tampa, Reagan Tittle was 2-for-3 with five RBI. Her solo home run broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning before a grand slam in the fifth broke the game open. The freshman from Lynn was the only UNA player with more than one hit in the game.
Hillary Carpenter improved to 20-6 with a two-hit shutout and set a new school record for victories in a season. She held the previous record of 19, reaching the total in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Against the Spartans, she struck out six and did not issue a walk in seven innings of work.
Holding a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth, UNA sent eight batters to the plate. After Brittany Gillison led off the frame with a walk, pinch runner Kaitlynn Wiggins reached third before scoring on a throwing error to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. Three batters later, Tittle came to the plate with the bases loaded. Her two-out shot to left center made the score 6-0 and put the game out of reach.
Against Rollins, UNA got a single run in the top of the eighth inning and held on in the bottom of the frame to get the win. Harlie Barkley led off the inning with a single. She advanced to second on a Rollins throwing error and moved to third on a single by Courtney Shields with no outs. Libby Olinger's sacrifice fly to left field then brought home the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the inning, Rollins got a lead-off walk and a double to right field to put runners at second and third with one out. Carpenter, who improved to 21-6, recorded a foul out and a strikeout to end the game.
Bree Blevins started the game in the circle for the Lions. She worked 5.2 innings, scattering six hits with three strikeouts and an unearned run. She left with the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
UNA jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Shields led off with a single before stealing second base. She scored on Olinger's RBI-single to center field. Both Shields and Olinger finished the game with two hits each to lead the Lions.
The two wins on Saturday gives UNA a 37-13 record on the year. The Lions will face a Florida Tech team they lost 2-1 in the opening round. The Panthers advanced to the final with a 2-1 walk-off victory over Rollins in Game 3 of the tournament.
