Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team (6-3) upset the No. 12 Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (5-3) before splitting on the road Thursday. The Sharks took game one, 10-7, before falling in game two, 16-1.
 
GAME ONE
The Sharks established a lead early in the first game of the day and never trailed the nation's 12^th ranked team. Lorena Spaulding (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Dakota Villella (So., Hollywood, Fla.) led off the game with a bunt single and a walk, starting a three-run rally. Te Reo Powhiri Matautia (Jr., Auckland, New Zealand) attempted to bunt them over, but reached base on the sacrifice due to an error that also scored Spaulding.
 
Katrina Ammons (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) continued her strong play with a first-pitch single to centerfield, driving in another run. Matautia put the Sharks up by three on a run on a groundout in the next at bat.
 
After allowing a run in the bottom of the first, the Sharks answered back in the third inning with a Spaulding run on a Matautia single to left field. UAH returned serve with a run in the same inning, leading the Sharks to add two more in the fourth. Maegan Lee (So., Miami, Fla.) and Rebecca Thornton (So., Lodi, Calif.) led off with back-to-back singles. They would each score on singles to left field, one from Shelby Cogan (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and another from Spaulding.
 
The NSU offense continued to have arguably its best day of the season, scoring four more runs over the last three innings. A leadoff hit would start each frame, first in the fifth from a single from Matautia. The junior transfer scored again, driven home by pitcher Thornton.
 
In the sixth, Ammons hit her fourth home run of the season. The cleanup hitter swung on an 0-2 pitch and sent the ball over right field. The dinger plated Mautatia for the third time in the game. In the seventh, Carly Comito (So., Boca Raton, Fla.) hit her first double of the year and eventually was plated by Spaulding. The leadoff slapper had two RBI in her second straight outing.
 
The Chargers showed their pedigree and continued to battle. They scored a pair of runs in the sixth and three runs in the seventh, but could not erase a seven run deficit. Ammons finished the game hitting 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI. Matautia went 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBI. Thornton went the distance in the circle, throwing 166 pitches while allowing five earned runs and striking out one batter.
 
GAME TWO
The Sharks did not carry their momentum into game two and found themselves down by a double-digit margin by the second inning. The Chargers scored a run in the first inning before posting a nine spot in the second. The Sharks needed instant offense, and got it from freshman shortstop Haley Gonzales (Boca Raton, Fla.). Gonzales hit a 1-1 pitch down the left field line and over the fence for her first collegiate home run. She is the only player on the roster this season to hit for the cycle over the first nine games.
 
Despite the run, the nationally ranked Chargers continued to pour on the offense, scoring a trio of runs in the third inning. The Chargers were not done there, repeating the run output in the fourth to put the home team up, 16-1.

NSU needed nine runs to avoid the Eight-Run Rule in the fifth. Unfortunately, the Sharks hit into three straight groundouts to end the game early. Overall, NSU had four hits to the Chargers' 13. Two of the Sharks' hits came from Spaulding and Lee, who have earned hits in all nine games for NSU. Gonzales and second basemen Villella recorded the other pair of hits. 

NSU will continue its road trip on Saturday, with games against No. 25 Wingate and No. 9 North Georgia in Dahlonega, Georgia.