GAME ONE STATS  |  GAME TWO STATS

JACKSONVILLE – A walk-off home run by freshman Hayden Crawford lifted the Jacksonville State softball team to a 4-3 win over Murray State in game one and a split of Saturday's doubleheader with the Racers at University Field.

After winning the opening game of the day in dramatic fashion, the Gamecocks (36-17, 21-8 Ohio Valley Conference) couldn't dig themselves out of an early deficit before falling 6-3 to the Racers (22-26, 12-15 OVC) in the nightcap.

The win in the early game did clinch the second seed in next week's Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Charleston, Ill., meaning they will receive a first-round bye in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

Crawford, a native of Sparkman, Ala., was the Gamecocks' leader on offense on a day in which the bats struggled. She went 3-for-3 in the first game of the day, her second career three-hit game, before reaching once in the finale. She put down a pair of infield singles in the opener before her fourth homer of the season one the game.

Freshman Tiffany Harbin won her 22nd game of the year in the opener after her 18th complete game saw her hold the Racers to three runs on six hits. The Hazel Green, Ala., native struck out eight and walked a pair.

Crawford was the lone JSU batter with multiple hits in the game, while junior Abbey Stepp drove in two on her ninth home run of the season. Jenna Bradley drove in a pair for the Racers, while Stephanie Mattocks singled twice in three at bats.

Shelby Kosmecki (10-6) suffered the loss after giving up four runs, three earned, on six hits in 6.1 innings of work.

In the final game of the day, senior starter Ashley Eliasson (3-4) staked the Racers to a 6-0 lead by the second inning and suffered the loss. The Vallejo, Calif., native surrendered six runs, two earned, on five hits in 1.2 innings. Junior Kristin Graham entered the game to retire the final batter of the second inning and held MSU scoreless on three hits thre rest of the way. The Warner Robins, Ga., native struck out nine in her second consecutive scoreless appearance.

JSU could only muster three hits off of Murray State's Chelsey Sullivan, who improved to 8-13 on the year after giving up three runs in seven innings.

Of those three hits, two were third-inning home runs, one a two-run blast by junior Tess Echols and the other a solo shot by senior Amanda Crow. Crow's was the 16th of the year for the Sharpsburg, Ga., native, the third-highest single season total in JSU history.

Bradley, Mattocks and Megan Glosser each recorded two hits for the Racers, while Lauren Buch drove in a pair on a home run in the second.

The two teams will play the rubber match of the three-game series and wrap up the regular season on Sunday at 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day at University Field, where the Gamecocks will honor their three seniors in a pregame ceremony. Admission is free.