Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NASHVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team scored a run in the seventh to defeat Belmont 3-2 in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader but dropped the nightcap 7-5 to split the shortened Ohio Valley Conference series.

After rain forced the cancellation of play on Friday, the Gamecocks (19-15, 5-4 OVC) and Bruins (11-16, 2-7 OVC) were forced to play two games on Saturday instead of the originally scheduled three-game series.

In the first game, sophomore Sara Borders went 2-for-4 with two doubles and junior Kalee Tabor drove in the game-winning run in the seventh to grab the win. Junior Tiffany Harbin grabbed her 11th win of the year by holding Belmont to two runs on four hits in a complete-game 7.0 innings in the circle. She struck out eight in the process.

Borders got the Gamecocks on the board in the third with a double that scored senior Krystal Ruth after her two-out single. Borders doubled again in the top of the sixth and scored on a single from senior Kelci Johnston to give JSU a 2-0 lead. Borders' two doubles gives her the team lead over Ruth on a Gamecocks squad that entered the weekend ranked sixth nationally with 1.94 doubles per game.

The Bruins tied it up in the home half of the sixth on a two-out, two-run homer to right center from Kat Hollingsworth, only to watch the Gamecocks grab the lead right back in the top of the seventh. JSU loaded the bases with one out for Tabor, who put the ball in play to allow Ruth to score the winning run from third. Harbin sat down the side in order in the seventh to secure the win.

Brittanie Albright started the game and gave up two runs on three hits in five innings of work, but Carolyn Snodgrass suffered the loss after allowing the run in the seventh, an unearned run on one hit and a walk.

In the second game of the day, Tabor went 3-for-3 and freshman Cadi Oliver drove in three runs, including a two-run home run, but the Bruins built an early 7-0 lead that JSU couldn't overcome.

The Bruins got a run in each the first and second innings and then plated five in the third to pull out to the big lead. JSU started nipping away in the fourth, getting Oliver's fifth home run of the season that cut the Gamecocks' deficit to 7-2.

Oliver drove in another run in a three-run fifth on a bases-loaded walk, while Tabor doubled in a run and Johnston drove in another to pull the Gamecocks within two. They loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth, but sophomore Savannah Sloan popped out to end the inning.

Junior Savanna Hennings pitched well in relief, holding the Bruins scoreless on two hits over the final 3.1 innings. Senior Hilary Phillips (4-3) took the loss after allowing seven runs, five earned, on seven hits in 2.2 innings in the circle.

Mia Vierra earned the win by tossing the first four innings and allowing three runs on three hits in the process.

The Gamecocks will return to non-conference play on Tuesday, when they take on defending National Champion and No. 4 Alabama at 6 p.m. in Tuscaloosa. The game will be broadcast live on the JSU Radio Network.