MOBILE, Ala-- The 23rd-ranked University of Mobile softball team split a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader with visiting Faulkner University Tuesday, taking the opener 1-0 and falling 3-2 in the finale.

Mobile (17-4, 1-1) will host 13th-ranked Auburn University-Montgomery Friday at 4 pm for a twin bill.

Game one saw Kamaron Strickland outduel Missy Duke to pick up the 1-0 victory. Strickland twirled a 3-hit shutout for Mobile, striking out 3 and walking a pair. Duke gave up 1 run on 9 hits in 6 innings of work.

Milagros Lozada and Johnna Barnes finished 2-for-3 at the dish for Mobile.

The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the 2nd. Ally Scott and Barnes singled to load the bags with one out and Emily Vickrey came through with a sac fly to plate Korie Fontenot for the eventual game-winner.

In the finale, Mattie Dotson held Mobile to 2 runs on 7 hits in a complete-game effort. She fanned 5 and walked 1. Alli Hall took the loss for Mobile, giving up 2 earned runs on 5 hits in 3 innings.

Ally Scott finished 2-for-3 for Mobile, while Hanna Beth Baker went 1-for-2 with 1 RBI and 1 run scored.

Faulkner got on the board first with a single tally in the 2nd, and then tacked on two more in the 3rd thanks to three hits and an error. Haley Munroe singled home one run and then scored the game-winner on a UMobile error.

The Lady Rams pulled within one thanks to a pair in the bottom of the 3rd, with Baker and Kaci Pribanic driving in runs.

Mobile got a runner on in the 7th, but with two outs, Faulkner right fielder Abbie Pierce made a diving grab to end the game on a liner off the bat of Pribanic.