MACON, Ga. – Jacksonville State cruised to a 7-0 win over IPFW to open the 2015 softball season on Friday morning and then rallied for a 5-4 win over Valparaiso to sweep a pair of games on the first day of the Mercer Invitational.
In the opener, sophomore
Taylor West and junior
Casey Akenberger combined to one-hit IPFW, while freshman
Emily Woodruff and senior
Sara Borders carried the Gamecock offense in the 7-0 win.
West (1-0) struck out six in five innings that saw her allow just one hit, a two-out single in the fifth. Akenberger tossed two perfect frames to close the game.
The second game saw JSU score three runs over the final two innings, including two in the seventh to erase a 4-3 deficit and start the season 2-0.
Against IPFW in the opener, the Gamecocks (2-0) threatened in the first on their first hit of the season, a two-out triple down the right field line by
Sara Borders.
Ella Denes got under a pitch from Kaitlyn Biere to end the early threat.
The Gamecocks made it count in the third, when walks to
Savannah Sloan and
Stephanie Lewis set up Woodruff for her first collegiate hit. She laced a 1-1 pitch from Biere into the right centerfield gap to drive in a pair and put JSU up 2-0. RBI singles from Borders and
Cadi Oliver made it a 4-0 JSU lead before the Mastodons could get out of the inning.
The Gamecocks tacked another run on in the fourth, an inning that was started by an IPFW error that allowed
Savannah Sloan to reach. Woodruff fond the gap in right center again, doubling in Sloan to give JSU the 5-0 advantage. She would later score on a Borders fielder's choice to make it a 6-0 game.
The freshman's third double game in the bottom of the sixth, when she drove a 2-1 Biere pitch into the gap in left center. The fourth RBI of the day made it 7-0 JSU and chased the Mastodons starter from the circle.
Biere (0-1) was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs on nine hits and three walks in 5.1 innings of work. Sarah Lazarowich recorded the final two outs in relief.
In the second game of the day, The Gamecocks got on the board first in the second, when a pair of RBI doubles from Oliver and
Melanie Steer gave them a 2-0 lead in the second.
The Crusaders came right back, tying the game with a pair of third-inning runs and chasing starter Akenberger from the circle. They used a leadoff single in the fourth to set up an RBI single from Jorgi Calombaris that put JSU down 3-2 after four innings.
JSU tied it in the sixth on a
Taylor Sloan single with two outs, but Stephanie Moreno answered with an RBI double in the home half of the inning to put the Crusaders back on top.
Taylor Weissenhofer couldn't find the strike zone in the top of the seventh, when she walked Steer,
Jamie McGuire and Oliver to load the bases for pinch hitter
Brooke Carvey. She drew the fourth-straight walk in the inning to tie the game and then Sloan's sac fly put the Gamecocks on top for the first time since the third inning.
The Crusaders had one more threat in the seventh, putting runners on the corners with one out, but
Logan Green got Sam Stewart to ground into a double play to end it.
Logan Green (1-0) earned the win after surrendering two runs on six hits and a walk in 4.2 innings of relief work. Akenberger allowed two runs on five hits in 2.1 innings.
Weissenhofer (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on six hits in 6.1 innings in the circle. She struck out five but walked 10 in the loss.
The Gamecocks will face tournament host Mercer at 11:15 a.m. CT on Saturday before beginning bracket play later in the day.
