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HUNTSVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team rattled off 14 hits in the opener and had to battle back in the second game of a doubleheader sweep at Alabama A&M on Tuesday afternoon.

The Gamecocks (9-3) rattled off 14 hits in a 10-0 mercy-rule win in the opener before overcoming a gem from Bulldogs (6-5) starter Anisa Britt before grabbing a 4-1 win in the nightcap. Senior Amanda Maldonado had multiple hits in both games to go 4-for-5 on the day, including a big two-run homer in the seventh inning of the finale to give her team a three-run lead.

The first game saw sophomore Casey Akenberger toss three innings of one-hit softball while her offense erupted for 10 runs on 14 hits. Six two-out hits in the second led to a 6-0 JSU lead and the Gamecocks never looked back.

Eleven Gamecocks had at least one hit, with junior Sara Borders, sophomore Ella Denes and senior Amanda Maldonado each recording two. That same trio each had two RBI, as did freshman Jamie McGuire, who hit a two-run homer in her only at bat.

After being held scoreless in the first inning for just the third time this season, the Gamecock offense made up for it in the second. They rattled off six two-out hits, starting with a two-run double to center from freshman Stephanie Lewis that put the first run on the board.  Denes followed with a single that plated Lewis, and Taylor Sloan set up Borders' two-run triple that made it 5-0. Kalee Tabor drove in Borders after driving the next pitch into right, capping the six-run inning.

Denes delivered her second RBI single in the third to make it 7-0, right before a throwing error from the shortstop allowed Hayden Crawford to score from third and stretch the JSU lead to 8-0.

McGuire made it 10-0 in the fourth with her second home run of the season. A deep line drive over the wall in left center followed a leadoff single from Brooke Carvey to give JSU the deciding advantage.

While the bats were doing their jobs, Akenberger (3-1) held the Bulldogs at bay. After a leadoff single in the top of the first was erased with a Savannah Sloan to Taylor Sloan caught stealing, she retired the next eight batters to earn her third win of the season. She tossed three shutout innings and allowed just the leadoff single.

Senior Savanna Hennings pitched the final two innings and allowed just two hits to close the door on AAMU. The Springville native walked one in her first appearance of the season. Meaghan Gray (1-3) took the loss for AAMU after allowing eight runs, seven earned, on 10 hits in just two innings of work.

Freshman Jordan Sims made her first career appearance in the circle to start the second game. The Bulldogs had opportunities to jump on top early, but they ran themselves out of the inning. A walk and two hits were erased when a pair of AAMU runners got caught too far off the bases.

AAMU got the first run of the second game with the bases loaded in the home half of the third, when Brooke Carvey's 3-1 pitch was called high to Viridiana Ramos and allowing Chelsey Ferguson to score.

The Bulldogs' Anisa Britt, who pitched the final 2.2 innings of the first game, cruised to start the second game, retiring the first 15 batters she faced before Maldonado reached on an infield single to start the sixth. Of the first 15 batters, Britt struck out two and got 13 fly ball outs to carry the perfect game into the sixth.

Britt's defense let her down after that, when she got a two-out ground ball from Denes that was misplayed by second baseman Ashley Gonzales. The ball bounced off the heel of her glove into right, allowing Maldonado to score from second and tie the game at 1-1.

The Gamecocks finally got on top in the seventh, when a leadoff double by Borders set up a two-out RBI single to center from Oliver that gave JSU a 2-1 lead. Maldonado struck again to give her team some insurance with a deep home run that just curled inside the left field line and made it a 4-1 JSU advantage.

Logan Green came on to pitch the seventh and closed the door on her first career save. She allowed a hit but struck out two in the inning.

Carvey (2-0) earned the win in four innings of relief, limiting he Bulldogs to a run on just two hits and a pair of walks. She struck out four in her second career win.

Britt (1-2) suffered a tough-luck defeat after holding JSU without a baserunner for the first five innings. She tossed all seven and ended up allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits. She struck out two and walked none.

The Gamecocks travel to Auburn for the Wilson/DeMarini Classic. They will play Mississippi Valley State and Auburn on Friday before facing the Tigers and Purdue on Saturday.