Shartzer hits two homers in UWA sweep
BIRMINGHAM –Anna Shartzer totaled two homeruns and batted in six total runs to lead West Alabama softball to a doubleheader sweep over Miles College at Parker High School on Wednesday. The Tigers won game one, 13-2 and game two, 16-1.
UWA belted 12 hits in each game and allowed only one error on the day to improve to 13-10 overall. Miles dropped to 2-12.
“I was really proud of our approach at the plate today,” said UWA head coach Will Atkinson.
“We did a much better job of putting together hitting streaks. Defensively, we made the plays we were supposed to make. Sarah Ray-Averett and Taylor Tucker did a great job in game one, and it was great to see Alli Hall come out and pitch five strong innings. She has struggled this year giving up runs in the first inning, and she gave up one today but she settled back in and pitched great.”
The Tiger bats swung early in game one with three runs on three hits in the top of the first inning. Jordyn Whiddon opened the third inning with her third home run of the year. Two doubles by Rebecca Schick and Taylor Miller added two more runs to put UWA up 6-0.
Miles tallied only four hits fewer than UWA with eight, but left 11 runners stranded on base. The Golden Bears did get one run across in the fifth and sixth innings.
The Tigers put the game away with seven runs in the seventh inning, capped off by Shartzer’s first homerun that brought in three runs.
Miller matched Shartzer’s three RBI, while Lydia North and Schick each posted two.
Sarah Ray-Averett (8-3) opened the first five innings, allowing one run, to get the win. Kayla Blanchard allowed six runs through three innings to take the loss.
Shartzer continued her hit streak into game two with her second homer in the top of the first inning. Whitney Brown followed with a two run home run, as the Tigers hit around the lineup to take a 7-0 lead.
Three Miles errors in the fourth added two more UWA runs. In the seventh, Brown and Devan Hines each added two more RBI to lead the Tigers to another seven run inning.
Brown finished game two with four RBI, while Whiddon crossed the plate three times in each game to lead UWA with six runs. Shartzer ended game two with three RBI; all of them in the first inning.
Alli Hall (1-0) pitched all five innings to get the win. She allowed only one run on four hits while striking out four batters. Megan Honea opened the first three innings, giving up seven run on seven hits and walking five to get the loss.
The Tigers will return to Gulf South Conference action to take on Lee in a three game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch of game one is set for Noon (C.S.T.) in Cleveland, Tenn.
“Today should give us confidence in that, we can do what it takes to win,” Atkinson said. “We controlled the things we could control and had effort from the top of our lineup to the bottom. Those kinds of things should bode well for us on our trip to Lee.”