MOBILE, Ala-- The 7th-ranked University of Mobile softball team lost both ends of a conference doubleheader to Auburn University-Montgomery Wednesday evening by scores of 14-8 and 8-3, despite Mobile leading at the start of the 6th inning in both games.
Mobile (30-10, 10-4) hosts 12th-ranked Belhaven for a conference twin bill Saturday at 12 pm.
The opener saw the Lady Rams build an 8-1 lead after 6 innings of play, only to have the Lady Senators score 7 in the 7th to tie it and 6 in the 8th to win it.
Taylor Burt threw 166 pitches in the complete-game win for AUM, while Kamaron Strickland took the loss in relief for Mobile.
Milagros Lozada paced Mobile at the plate with a 3-5 2 RBI effort, while Erica Bracey and Ally Scott each drove in 2 runs. Holli McLeod finished 2-4 with 2 runs scored.
For AUM, Burt went 3-4 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored at the dish, while Ashton Nelson finished 2-4 with 3 RBI and Brandi Richards collected 3 hits.
Mobile's offense was doing damage throughout the game, as they scored 3 in the 6th to build an 8-1 lead on Lozada's RBI-double and Scott's 2-run single.
But, AUM tallied 7 runs on 5 hits and 2 errors in the 7th to extend the game. Kacie Ryal started the rally with a 2-run homer, while the last 2 runs of the inning scored on errors. They kept hitting in the 8th, getting 6 runs on 7 hits as Nelson started with a 2-run double and Danielle Kirkpatrick added a 2-run single.
In the finale, the Lady Senators used a 6-run 6th inning to erase a 2-1 deficit. Courtney Baker got the win by allowing 2 earned runs on 9 hits in 7 innings, while Strickland took the loss after giving up 4 earned runs on 16 hits in 7 innings of work.
Kirstyn Joiner and Erica Bracey each went 2-4 at the plate to lead Mobile, while Taylor Burt finished 3-4 for AUM and Stacin Halverson went 3-5.
With the teams locked in a pitchers' duel, AUM scored the first run of the game in the top of the 5th on a sac fly, before Mobile answered for two runs in the bottom half of the frame, with Jessica Swanson singling home Bracey for the lead.
But, AUM connected for 8 hits in the 6th to tally 6 runs, as they started the inning with a single, double, triple, double before recording an out trying to stretch the last double into a triple. At that point, they had built a 4-2 lead. After a 2-out error extended the frame, they tacked on two more.