BARBOURVILLE, Ky.— The Montreat softball team played on the third Sunday in four weeks as the Cavaliers traveled to Kentucky to take on the Union College Bulldogs. With a 6-4 win and a 10-1 loss via the mercy rule, the Cavs split the doubleheader and moved to 5-10 (1-3 AAC) in 2023.
 
Samantha Browning got the visitors on the board first in the opening matchup, driving in a pair of Cavs in the first before Montreat capitalized on an error and a groundout by Alara Cashwell to lead 3-0 in the third inning.
 
Union (5-8, 4-2 AAC) responded with a trio of scores in the bottom of the frame; however, Browning doubled in Coleena Selleck in the fifth to restore a 1-run edge. The Bulldogs forced extra innings by tying the contest in the sixth, but Cameryn Bass and Alyssa Hudson notched RBIs in the eighth, and Kendall Rubel finished off her complete game to secure a 6-4 victory in game one.
 
Browning (2-4) and Selleck (2-5) registered multiple hits, while Browning accounted for a contest-best three RBIs as the Cavs snapped their 4-game losing streak.
 
In game two, UC dominated the Cavaliers, scoring in five of the six innings of the shortened competition. The Bulldogs, who outhit Montreat 11-3 in the contest, led 1-0 in the first, added two more in the second and tacked on another in the third to go up 4-0 through three frames.
 
Katie Johnson got the Cavs on the board with an RBI single in the fourth; however, the visitors' rally attempt was short-lived. Union pitchers faced just two batters over the minimum and the Bulldogs promptly scored three in the bottom of the inning to extend their edge to six (7-1). The home side then tacked on another run via Montreat's second error of the game before hitting a 2-run bomb to conclude the matchup thanks to the mercy rule.
 
Johnson (2-2) recorded two of the Cavs' three hits in game two.
 
Softball now faces the Kentucky Christian University Knights on the road Monday afternoon. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.