FINAL STATS

RICHMOND, Ky. – A first-inning grand slam by Amanda Crow set the tone for head coach Jana McGinnis' 600th career win on Sunday, when the Jacksonville State softball team swept Eastern Kentucky with a 4-2 win.

With the win, McGinnis, in her 18th season at the helm of her alma mater, and her Gamecocks (14-6, 3-0 Ohio Valley Conference) swept a three-game series from the Colonels (13-9, 0-3 OVC) to open the league schedule. The weekend improved JSU to 20-5 all-time against EKU and stretched its winning streak in the series to 11.

Crow, a senior from Sharpsburg, Ga., had just one his in her three at bats in the game but it provided all the offense that freshman Tiffany Harbin would need in the circle. Crow drove a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left center to put the Gamecocks up by four runs before Harbin had to throw a pitch. The blast capped a weekend that saw Crow bat .400 and drive in seven runs on three homers.

Harbin (9-4) earned her third win of the series and needed just 88 pitched to round up her sixth complete game of the season. The native of Hazel, Green, Ala., struck out six batters while allowing a pair of runs on five hits. She wrapped up the weekend with a 3-0 record and a 1.40 earned run average.

Junior Kristin Graham went 2-for-4 at the plate, while senior Sallie Beth Burch added two hits in her four at bats. Graham, a native of Warner Robins, Ga., hit .500 with a pair of home runs in the three-game set.

Noelani Esparas (5-2) suffered her second loss of the weekend for the Colonels, surrendering four runs on eight hits in seven innings of work. She struck out a pair and walked three.

The Gamecocks will be back in action on Thursday, when they travel to Birmingham for a 1 p.m. doubleheader with rival Samford. They will then return home for a three-game series with Morehead State, one that begins with a 1 p.m. twinbill on Saturday and concludes with a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday.