Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4

FLORENCE, Alabama – The Union University softball team traveled to Florence, Alabama this past weekend to the UNA Softball Invitational. The Lady Bulldogs went 3-1 overall in the tournament. Union topped Miles College (Ala.) 3-0 and Georgia College State University 5-2 on the first day of the tournament and finished the last day with a win over McKindree (5-2) and a loss to the University of Missouri-St. Louis (1-0) in eight innings.

In the victory of Miles College, the Lady Bulldogs scored all three runs in the third inning on RBI from DeShuni Sanders, Shelby Lamb, and Reagan Schrader. Senior Keaton Kirk (1-0) earned her first win of the season with a shutout. Kirk pitched five innings with five strikeouts and just four hits. Brooke Thomas got her second save of the season in relief.

Union struck early in their second game of the tournament against Georgia College. Run production began in Union's first at-bat of the game with Alex Williams hitting a solo homerun. Offense came alive late in the game for the Lady Bulldogs with a solo homer from Shelby Lamb in the fifth and back to back homeruns in the sixth from Keaton Kirk and freshman Amanda Chandler. The final run was from an RBI from DeShuni Sanders, scoring Alex Williams. Kelly Robey earned her second win of the season, pitching six complete innings with no hits and four strikeouts.

The Lady Bulldog's hitting streak continued into day two of the tournament. Union topped McKendree (Ill.) 5-2 scoring all their runs in the first three innings. Union came out firing in the first inning on a leadoff single by Alex Williams followed by a two-run homerun by Shelby Lamb scoring Williams. Union went scoreless in the second but scored three more runs in the third on a two RBI single from Amanda Chandler. Keaton Kirk scored later in the inning on a throw down to second. Brooke Thomas (2-0) earned the win with eight strikeouts and only three hits.

The closest game of the weekend was the last matchup against the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Both teams were scoreless through regulation play with solid pitching from both sides. The international tiebreaker rule placed Whitney Christian at second base in the top of the eighth inning but the Lady Bulldogs could not execute. The Lady Tritons scored the only run of the game in walk-off fashion with an infield error to score the winning run. Robey (2-1) suffered the loss although giving up just four hits in 7.2 innings and recording 16 strikeouts.

Up next for the Lady Bulldogs is their first conference matchup on the road at Valdosta State March 2^nd.