GAME ONE BOX SCORE
GAME TWO BOX SCORE

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After having to beat Nebraska early Sunday to advance to the championship game of the 2009 Knoxville Regional, the Jacksonville State softball team swept Tennessee, the No. 13 national seed, on Sunday to advance to next week's NCAA Super Regional.

The Gamecocks (42-15) handed the Lady Vols (40-18-1) a 6-1 defeat in the first meeting, forcing a winner-take-all game in which JSU claimed a 2-1 win. The second-seeded Gamecocks, who lost its first game of the regional on Friday, had to fight through the loser's bracket to become the first Ohio Valley Conference program to advance to the NCAA's round of 16.

JSU will now travel to Tuscaloosa, where it will begin a best-of-three series with the No. 4 national seed Crimson Tide, who won their regional earlier Sunday afternoon. All three games will be televised on one of the ESPN networks.

On the tournament, senior Karla Pittman and sophomore Ashley Eliasson posted a combined 0.95 earned run average and held opponents to a .204 average.

The Gamecock offense hit .283 as a team, a number that was led by junior Hillary Downs' team-high .538 average. Senior Courtney Underwood hit .471 with a team-best five RBI, while senior Allie Barker posted a .467 average in a weekend that saw her hit three doubles and two home runs.

GAME ONE – JSU 6, UT 1
Freshman Meredith Sellers and senior Karla Pittman played the roles of hero for the Gamecocks in a 6-1 win over the No. 13 national seed Tennessee that forced the winner-take-all title game on Sunday.

Pittman came two outs away from shutting out the Lady Vols and ended up surrendering a run on eight hits in her 16th complete game of 2009. The North Canton, Ohio, native struck out three and walked four to guide the Gamecocks within a win of their first ever Super Regional appearance.

Sellers was just as impressive at the plate, driving in four runs in a 2-for-3 outing that left her as the lone JSU player with multiple hits in the game. The Columbiana, Ala., native belted a two-run homer that put the Gamecocks on the board in the second and ripped a two-run double in the sixth that gave them a 4-0 advantage. Senior Jackie Jarman and junior Mary Beth Ledbetter were two of four JSU players with a hit and each drove in a run.

Cat Hosfield (28-13), the Lady Vols' SEC All-Freshman pitcher, took the loss after giving up two runs on two hits in just over an inning in the circle. Ashton Ward tossed 2.2 innings of hitless work, while Jessica Spigner allowed the other four runs, one earned, on four hits in 2.1 innings in the circle.

The top two hitters in the UT order, Kelly Grieve and Lillian Hammond, were each 2-for-4 in the losing effort. Jen Lapicki drove in the Lady Vols' lone run on a ground out in the seventh.

Sellers got the Gamecocks on the board in the home half of the second with a towering blast that hit the top of the scoreboard above the wall in left center. The Columbiana, Ala., native's seventh home run of the year followed senior Courtney Underwood's single to left and gave the Gamecocks an early 2-0 lead.

Sellers struck again in the home half of the sixth by lacing a double off of the bag at third and into the corner down the left field line. The two bagger scored Nikki Prier and Allie Barker, who reached on an error and doubled, respectively. Sellers later scored on a double off of the bat of senior Jackie Jarman, who was plated by Mary Beth Ledbetter's two-out single that gave JSU a 6-0 advantage.

UT loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh but only got one across before the Gamecocks sealed the 6-1 win.


GAME TWO – JSU 2, UT 1
Jackie Jarman laced a two-out single through the right side in the top of the fifth to score Courtney Underwood on what ended up being the game-winning hit in a 2-1 win over No. 13 Tennessee that sends JSU to Tuscaloosa next week, where it will face Alabama in the program's first Super Regional.

Jarman's RBI finished off what was a gem from sophomore Ashley Eliasson, who held the Lady Vols scoreless in 5.1 innings of relief work. The Vallejo, Calif., native, who beat Nebraska earlier in the day to get JSU to the championship game, fanned four and walked two to improve to 18-7 on the year.

Jarman went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead a JSU offense that outhit UT, 7-5. Chrissy O'Neal drove in the Gamecocks' other run in a 1-for-4 outing.

Danielle Pieroni suffered the loss in the circle for the Lady Vols after giving up both runs on two hits in two innings of relief work. She came in for Hosfield, who held JSU scoreless on five hits in five innings in the circle.

Grieve went 2-for-2 at the plate to lead the Lady Vols, who were held to just five hits on the day.

The Lady Vols manufactured a run in the home half of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. Grieve led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a Hammond single and a stolen base before scoring on a sacrifice fly to left off of the bat of Tiffany Huff.

The Gamecocks tied it up in the fourth on a Chrissy O'Neal double that hit the wall in straightaway center to score Ledbetter from second.

Jarman gave the Gamecocks their first lead of the game in the top of the fifth with a two-out single through the right side that scored Underwood from third. Underwood walked and advanced to third on a pair of fielders' choices.