MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The UNC Pembroke softball team pounded out 14 hits, including eight of the extra-base variety, and scored 11 times behind a solid effort in the circle from Maddie Armfield as the Braves forged a season-ending doubleheader split with an 11-2 mercy rule victory over Montevallo on Friday afternoon. The Falcons grabbed the opener of the twinbill by a 4-1 margin.
 
It was the second victory in the last three outings for the Braves (26-27, 6-18 PBC) who concluded their campaign with 26 or more wins for the third-straight season under the direction of head coach Brittany Bennett. It was the fourth setback in the last seven outings for the Falcons (21-21, 10-11).
 
Five different players registered multi-hit showings for the Black & Gold, including Taylor Gerhart who doubled and homered to key a 2-for-4, 3-RBI day at the plate. Abbey Walters (3-for-4, 3 R) hit a grand slam to fuel a 7-run seventh inning, while Alex Watkins drove in four runs as well on a 3-for-4 hitting performance.
 
Armfield (4-5) struck out two and scattered seventh hits and a pair of runs (one earned) over a complete-game six-inning performance from the circle to pick up the win, while Jocelyn Rivera (11-8) surrendered eight runs (two earned) on nine hits in just 3-2/3 innings of work to take the loss for the hosts.
 
Gerhart helped the visitors set the tone early with a two-run blast in the top of the first inning, but the Falcons pushed across a pair of runs in the third inning to knot things back up.
 
Toni Nelson and Kaitlynn Norton both reached via one-out singles in the fourth, and Rivera's costly error with two outs in the frame opened up the floodgates. The Black & Gold followed the errant throw with four-straight extra-base hits, including homers from both Walters and Watkins, as well as doubles from Jamie Johnson and Gerhart.
 
A 2-run single from Watkins with two outs in the sixth put the mercy rule into play and, after a leadoff single from Kelsey Vining, Armfield sat down three-straight batters to slam the door on the win.
 
In the opening game of the twinbill, Montevallo used a clutch 2-run single from Mariel Bertossi with two outs in the second inning to provide the Abbey Pratt (10-12) with more than enough run support as the Falcons toughed out a 4-1 victory.
 
Watkins walked, singled twice and drove in a run to pace the UNCP offense in the opener. Walters (12-11) yielded four earned runs on eight hits over her team-leading 17^th complete game effort of the season to saddle the loss from the circle for the Braves.
 
Bertossi broke open an otherwise close game by legging out a run-scoring single in the second, but the Falcons added insurance runs on the shoulders of a wild pitch in the third, as well as a RBI single from Lauren Van Steenwyk in the fifth. The Braves cut into their four-run deficit on a single by Watkins in the sixth, but could not get any closer.
 
Pratt struck out five and did not allow an earned run in the contest. The Black & Gold stranded seven runners on the base paths in the contest, including five left in scoring position.