Huntingdon closes regular season with sweep of MUW

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Huntingdon softball team closed out the regular season on Monday with a pair of one-run wins over the Mississippi University for Women.

The Lady Hawks scored in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 1-0 in Game 1 and won the second game 2-1. Junior Alyssa Singleterry drove in the winning run in Game 1 and freshman Katie Dewey drove in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2.

With the sweep, Huntingdon has won five straight games and nine of the past 12 games. Monday's two wins evened the season series with MUW at 2-2. The Owls won a pair of six-inning games, 9-1 and 10-2, in February.

Pitching helped set the tone in both wins against MUW. Sophomore Madison Hunt (10-4) earned the win in Game 1 with a complete-game shutout and freshman Lauren Melton (1-0) pitched a complete game to earn the win in Game 2.

Hunt finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts and scattered five hits in seven innings. Hunt is tied for fifth in the USA South this season with 10 wins and is tied for the conference lead with four shutouts.

Melton, who pitched her first complete game for the Lady Hawks, finished with a season-high seven strikeouts, walked seven, gave up two hits and allowed one earned run in seven innings.

In Game 1, tied 0-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Singleterry drove in Madison Perryman with a single to end the game. Singleterry finished the game 2-for-4 and was the only Lady Hawk with multiple hits. Singleterry entered Monday's doubleheader ranked second in Division III with 48 hits this season.

In Game 2, tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Dewey drove in Rayne Ellis with a single to put Huntingdon ahead for good. Huntingdon scored its first run of the game in the second inning when Claire Tomberlin scored on a Maggie Porter ground out.

Ellis was the only Huntingdon player with multiple hits in Game 2 and finished the game 2-for-3.

Records: Huntingdon (20-18); Mississippi University for Women (17-15)

Coming Up: Huntingdon will play at Piedmont on Saturday in the first round of the USA South Athletic Conference Tournament.

The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday, with the first game set for 11 a.m. (Central). Should a third game be needed, it will be played on Sunday at 11 a.m. (Central).

The winner of the first-round series will advance to the double elimination portion of the conference tournament in LaGrange, Ga., on April 13-15.