FINAL STATS

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team used the long ball in dramatic fashion on Thursday night to overcome defensive miscues and rally for a 5-4 extra-inning win over Kennesaw State at University Field.

On a night that saw the Gamecocks (11-6) surrender four unearned runs, their bats belted four home runs to bail out the defense and hand the Owls (13-7) a season sweep and their sixth-straight loss in the all-time series. Sophomore Kelci Johnston belted solo home runs in her first two at bats, and sophomore Krystal Ruth used a solo blast in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at 3-3. That set the stage for junior Kristin Graham.

After KSU took the lead in the top of the extra frame on a Linsday Vollmer double, Graham, a native of Warner Robins, Ga., and transfer from Virginia Tech, stepped up. With freshman Hayden Crawford on second via the international tiebreaker rule, Graham grooved the second pitch she saw from KSU starter Abbey Meixel over the wall in left center to give JSU its second walk-off homer in the last three games.

Ruth, a native of Wylie, Texas, belted a pinch-hit walk-off three-run blast on Tuesday that sealed the Gamecocks' mercy-rule win over Samford and stepped up as a reserve again on Thursday. Having entered the game in the top of the sixth, Ruth's first at bat came as the leadoff batter in the seventh and she erased Kennesaw State's 3-2 lead when she deposited Meixel's 0-1 pitch deep into the field beyond the center field wall.

In a game where their bats struggled to get going, Johnston was the Gamecocks' early supply of offense. The Northport, Ala., native's second-two-home run game of her career and the 21st in school history saw her record JSU's first two hits of the night, both solo blasts the easily cleared the wall in left. Her first sailed over the scorebeoard and avenged a fly ball she missed that led to a Kennesaw run in the top of the inning.

Errors by shortstop Tess Echols led to an unearned run in each of the next two innings for the Owls and gave them a 3-1 lead until Johnston's second at bat, one that ended with her third round tripper of the year.

Neither team would score again until the home half of the seventh, when Ruth stepped up for her dramatic shot.

The Gamecocks managed just five hits in the game, with a single from Crawford being their only one that stayed in the park. Johnston was walked in each of her final two plate appearances to secure a 2-for-2 night.

The Owls got a pair of hits from Catherine Tarvin, who entered the night just 1-for-22 on the year, and two more from Vollmer.

Meixel (2-2) threw 120 pitches in the loss in the circle, one that ended with her allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits, three walks and eight strikeouts. She was credited with seven innings pitched, as she only faced one batter in the eighth.

The Gamecocks threw all six pitchers on their roster in the game, none of which allowed an earned run. Graham started the game with a hitless first before making way for freshman Tiffany Harbin (6-4) in the second. The Hazel Green, Ala., native threw the second, but then came back in to record the final out of the eighth and earn the win. She struck out four of the six batters she faced.

Junior Sam Snow threw one inning and allowed an unearned run on one hit, while freshman Savanna Hennings struck out three and gave up one hit in a scoreless two innings. Senior Ashley Eliasson surrendered three hits in a scoreless inning, while sophomore Hilary Phillips gave up an unearned run on one hit in 1.2 innings in the circle.

The Gamecocks open Ohio Valley Conference play on Saturday, when they travel to Richmond, Va., to start a three-game series at Eastern Kentucky. The set will start with a 12 p.m. CT doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping up with a single game at 12 p.m. on Sunday.