PHOTO GALLERYJACKSONVILLE –
Whitney Gillespie helped carry and explosive Jacksonville State offense on her first day at University Field, homering twice and earning a save in a twinbill sweep of Cleveland State on Saturday.
Gillespie, a freshman from Pelham hit three of the Gamecocks (15-7) six homers in the doubleheader vs. the Vikings (12-7). They won game one 6-2 before completing their first home games of 2015 with a 5-2 win in the nightcap.
Gillespie was 3-for-6 after homering twice in the opener before going back-to-back with
Cadi Oliver in the second game. In that finale, she tossed a perfect seventh inning to close the door on the Vikings' day.
Oliver, a junior from Sumiton, hit two homers in game two, while senior
Sara Borders had a homer in a 3-for-6 day.
Sophomores
Taylor West and
Logan Green limited a potent CSU lineup that entered the day hitting .311. West allowed two runs on five hits in the opener, while Green gave up three runs on seven hits in the day's finale.
In the opener, the Vikings jumped on the Gamecocks with a two-run homer from Cynthia Woodard in the top of the first. West (4-2) held them in check the rest of the way to give the JSU offense a chance to work.
It didn't take the offense long to get going, starting with a Borders homer in the first and Gillespie's first homer of the day in the second. The solo shots tied the game before an RBI single from
Savannah Sloan gave JSU its first lead in the third at 3-2. Borders followed with a two-run single that made it a 5-2 Gamecock lead in that third inning.
Gillespie's second homer of the day came in the bottom of the sixth and gave West another insurance run she wouldn't need.
The Anniston, Ala., native held a potent CSU lineup to just three hits after the first inning. She ended the game allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out four and walking three. She threw 101 pitches in her fourth complete game of the year.
Mackenzie Joecken (3-2) suffered the loss after allowing six runs on eight hits in her six-inning outing. The CSU starter didn't allow a walk and didn't record a strikeout.
Borders and Gillespie each went 2-for-3 to lead the Gamecock offense and account for half of JSU's hits.
JSU drew first blood in the second game, grabbing a first inning run on a wild pitch from CSU starter Alex Radjen.
Oliver belted her first homer of the game in the second inning, when she went down and lined a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left center to make it a 2-0 JSU lead. Gillespie and Oliver went back-to-back in the third, with Gillespie's two-run shot and Oliver's second solo blast giving the Gamecocks a 5-0 advantage.
Green held the Vikings to just one hit through the first three innings before a four-hit fourth pushed two runs across and cut the Gamecocks' lead to 5-2. Joecken cut into it by one more in the sixth with a solo shot to left.
A scoreless sixth set up Gillespie, who took over in the circle to toss a perfect seventh and grab her third save of the year.
The Gamecocks will travel to Birmingham on Tuesday to face UAB at 6 p.m. before opening Ohio Valley Conference play Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader vs. UT Martin at University Field.
