After opening the day with its longest game of the season in the form of a nine-inning, one-run loss to UAB, Western Kentucky’s softball team rallied for a 7-3 victory in the nightcap to split a Saturday doubleheader at the WKU Softball Complex.

WKU (20-19 overall, 4-7 Conference USA) took the 1-0 loss in the first game before evening the C-USA cross-division series at 1-1. 

In the opener, UAB tallied the lone score in the top of the ninth inning.

WKU’s Kathryn Downing tossed 147 pitches in the contest. The senior registered a career-best eight strikeouts before allowing the lone run of the game on a solo home run.

Morgan McElroy had WKU’s lone hit in the bottom of the eighth.

In the second game, the Hilltoppers tallied eight hits to back starting pitcher Kelsey Aikey. Brittany Vaughn was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, and Paige Carter went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to lead WKU. Adarian Gray added a pair of RBIs in the win.

The final game of the weekend series is set for Sunday with a noon first pitch from the WKU Softball Complex.