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Hilary Phillips

Softball

Gamecock Softball Takes Two From Peay To Open Series

GAME ONE STATS  |  GAME TWO STATS

JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team got its series with Austin Peay off to a good start on Saturday, when the Gamecocks swept a doubleheader in Ohio Valley Conference action at University Field.

Everyone in the lineup recorded at least one hit for the Gamecocks (30-11, 15-3 OVC) in the twinbill, while JSU also got a pair of solid pitching performances to claim a 5-2 win in the opener and a 5-0 win in the finale. Freshman Tiffany Harbin held the Lady Govs (10-32, 5-15 OVC) to three hits in the first game before sophomore Hilary Phillips tossed a five-hit shutout in the second game of the afternoon.

The sweep ran JSU's win streak over the Lady Govs to eight in a row while improving the Gamecocks to 19-6 all-time in the series.

Junior Kaycee Crow went 3-for-4 with a home run, two walks and two RBI to pace the JSU offense. The Ringgold, Ga., native led a bottom of the lineup that carried the Gamecocks on a day where the top of the order struggled. Crow, the team's eight-hole hitter, teamed with No. 7 hitter Hayden Crawford and No. 9 hitter Tess Echols to go a combined 8-for-14 in the twinbill.

Phillips, a native of Ider, Ala., made just her second start of the season and tossed her first complete game of the year in the second game of the doubleheader. She struck out five and didn't surrender an extra base hit to improve to 6-0 on the season. The start was her first since starting the season opener against UAB on Feb. 11.

Senior Amanda Crow did most of the damage for the JSU offense in that second game, taking advantage of a pair of Peay errors in the first with a three-run home run that cleared the scoreboard in left field. The 13th long ball of the season for the Sharpsburg, Ga., native gave her the team and OVC lead and highlighted a 2-for-3 game at the plate.

The only other scoring in the game came in the home half of the sixth, when a leadoff homer from senior Sallie Beth Burch and an RBI double by sophomore Krystal Ruth gave JSU the deciding 5-0 advantage. Burch, a native of Moulton, Ala., also went 2-for-3 for the Gamecocks in the nightcap.

Ashley Bolda (3-9) was tagged with the loss in the second game after surrendering five runs, just two earned, on seven hits in five innings of work. She walked two and failed to strike out a batter before giving way to Morgan Brewer, who gave up one hit in the final inning. Catie Cozart, who went 4-for-6 in the doubleheader for APSU, led the Lady Govs at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort in the final game of the day.

In the opener, Harbin surrendered just three hits, but two of them were solo home runs. Cozart got one and Randal Davenport the other. She settled in and struck out 10 batters to improve to 18-5 on the year to move into 12th in school history for wins in a season. She now has 181 strike outs on the season, moving her into fifth on the school's single-season list in that category.

Crawford, Kaycee Crow and Echols each went 2-for-3 to lead JSU at the plate in the opener, with Crow driving in a pair on her sixth home run of the year.

After Davenport's first career round tripper gave the Lady Govs a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, the Gamecocks answered to tie it on an RBI single by junior Abbey Stepp in the home half of the inning. Sophomore Kelci Johnston put JSU on top in the fourth on her run-scoring single, and a three-run fifth that was sparked by Crow's blast gave the Gamecocks a 5-1 lead.

Brewer (6-11) suffered the loss for the Lady Govs after giving up five runs, two earned, on eight hits in 4.2 innings in the circle. Bolda surrendered a hit in 1.1 innings of work.

The Gamecocks will go for the series sweep on Sunday, when the two teams wrap up the three-game series at 1 p.m. Admission is free.


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