DeLand, Fla. – Fifth-seeded North Alabama scored a run in the 10th inning to deal Jacksonville University a heartbreaking season ending 5-4 loss in a play in game in the ASUN Conference Softball Championship here Thursday.
UNA's winning run came after the Lions had loaded the bases and scored on a base hit to right field by right fielder Sidney Bevis.
The eighth-seeded Dolphins, trying to become the first eight seed in tournament history to post a win, had chipped away the whole game and scored what appeared to be the winning run in the top of the sixth inning.
JU (25-27, (11-13 ASUN) had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning when right fielder Allison Carter led off with a double to right and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by designated hitter Tatianna Davis. Carter then surprised the UNA defense by breaking for home causing an errant throw as she slid to the plate.
The Lions (31-14-1, 12-11-1ASUN) were down to their final strike twice in the bottom of the seventh but were able to put together a trio of hits leading to a run and the tie at 4 and extra innings.
JU fought off a bases loaded, one-out threat in the bottom of the eighth when Bevis flied out to Allison Bratek in left field. The Lions' Holley Files tagged on the play and Bratek fired a perfect throw to catcher Madison Kennedy to nail Files at the plate ending the inning. It was one of seven double plays recorded by both teams during the game which featured repeated defensive gems for both teams.
Carter, a redshirt sophomore from Stafford, Va., drove in the game's first run in the first inning when she singled home teammate Victoria Rodebaugh who had reached on a fielder's choice.
The Dolphins, who were involved in their sixth one-run game in their last eight games, followed that first inning score with a second inning leadoff home run blast to center field from Kennedy, her fifth-round tripper of the season.
North Alabama loaded the bases in the bottom of the second with two outs and tied the game at 2 with a two-run single from Bevis.
JU took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth when Bratek hit a two out homer just inside the left field foul pole, her eighth of the season and 27th run batted in.
