The Lee softball team split its conference home-opener doubleheader with West Alabama on Friday afternoon from Butler Field.
The two teams will wrap up the weekend series with a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Lady Flames move to 10-6 on the year and are 3-2 in league play. The Tigers are now 5-11 overall and 2-3 in the GSC.
GAME 1 – LEE 6 UWA 2
Leigh Beatenbough went the distance to earn her fifth victory of the season and the top of the lineup knocked around the Tigers pitching to give Lee the 6-2 win in game one on Friday.
Beatenbough allowed just five hits and one earned run in the complete game performance. She struck out five and walked two.
The top four hitters in the Lady Flames lineup (Stevie Baird, Kayla Louie, Abby McKinney and Taylor Moran) combined to go 10 of 14 with six RBI and five runs scored.
Moran was a perfect 3 for 3 with a double and two RBI. Baird led off the game with a triple and scored and wrapped up the scoring with a solo home run to center to finish 3 for 4. Louie had two hits and scored a run while McKinney doubled twice and drove home three.
 Abby McKee led the Tigers with a pair of hits while Ashley Smart delivered a run scoring single in the sixth to avoid the shutout.
Carleigh Mills (2-5) started but did not record an out for West Alabama before giving way to Nora Keehn. Mills allowed two runs on three hits. Keehn gave up three runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings of relief. She struck out four and walked a batter. Kamree Lay tossed the final 2.1 innings and punched out five despite giving up the solo home run to Baird.
GAME 2 – LEE 4 UWA 5
Despite a four-run comeback in the sixth inning capped off by a three-run home run from Moran the Tigers scratched out a 5-4 win over the Lady Flames in the nightcap.
The Tigers rode the arm of Andrea Edmonds for much of the contest. The ace of the staff went 5.1 innings allowing three runs on three hits.
Edmonds was knocked out of the game on a rocket line drive off the bat of McKinney that ricocheted off her shoulder and side of her face. She would leave the game with assistance from the training staff.
McKinney's rope up the box scored a run to finally put the Lady Flames on the board trailing 4-1. Moran followed with two-on and promptly ripped a three-run homer to center off of Mills to tie things up at 4 apiece. All totaled Moran was 4 for 7 with five RBI on the day.
The lead was short-lived however as the Tigers came right back in the top of the seventh to regain the lead on a Kylie Martin RBI single up the middle off Shonna Penney.
McKinney started and ended up with a no-decision after giving up four runs, two earned on five hits in six innings. The sophomore struck out two and did not walk a batter. Penney (3-3) was tagged with the loss after giving up a run on three hits in her inning of relief.
Following a similar script to Lee's game one victory the Tigers relied on the top of the order as their first four hitters went 7 for 12 with three RBI. Martin finished with three RBI while McKee, Kendall Johnson and Ashley Smart each had two hits in the contest.
Kamree Lay came in the seventh and slammed the door, setting the Lady Flames down in order with a pair of strikeouts to earn her first save of the season.Â
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