JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team opened Ohio Valley Conference play in style on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader from UT Martin at Univesity Field.
A late
Sara Borders home run gave the Gamecocks (18-7, 2-0 OVC) a 3-2 lead in the opening game before a five-run sixth capped a 9-1 mercy-rule win over the Skyhawks (12-12, 1-3 OVC) in the finale.
Senior
Savannah Sloan went 4-for-6 on the day with four RBI, while junior
Ella Denes had two RBI in her 4-for-6 afternoon. Senior
Sara Borders homered in each game to run her career total to 38 and into a tie for third on the school's career homer list with Nikki Prier.
Sophomore
Logan Green tied her career high in strike outs with eight in a game two gem that also saw JSU rattle off 13 hits in the mercy-rule shortened game.
The Gamecocks cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a leadoff walk to Denes and a double from
Cadi Oliver that set up a two-out Sloan double to left center that gave JSU a 2-0 lead.
The Skyhawks answered immediately, getting an RBI double from Carly Gonzalez and an RBI single back up the middle from Kelsey Dixon to tie the game in the top of the fifth.
Borders put JSU up for good in the home half of the fifth, driving the first pitch she saw from Elizabeth Wiegand over the wall in left center to make it a 3-2 Gamecock lead. The homer was Borders' 37th in her career, passing Rachel Countryman for fourth on the school's all-time list.
Whitney Gillespie (6-2) earned the win in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless frames and allowing just two hits in the process.
Taylor West pitched the first 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits before making way for Gillespie in the fifth.
Wiegand (5-5) took the loss for UTM after allowing three runs on eight Gamecock hits in six innings of work.
Denes and Sloan each went 2-for-2 at the plate in the opening game, while Sloan's two RBI led the way.
In the second game, the Skyhawks kept threatening early but came up empty after getting a runner to third with less then two outs in each of the first two innings.
JSU got on the board first on a Denes homer in the second. The Pisgah native drove Casey Vincent's 1-0 pitch over the wall in center and gave the Gamecocks an early 1-0 lead. Oliver followed with a double and scored after Kenzi Tate's throwing error behind a
Savannah Sloan bunt single to make it 2-0.
Kelsey Dixon cut the lead in half to lead off the top of the fourth by homering to deep right on
Logan Green's 1-2 pitch.
Borders struck again in the fifth, this time depositing a two-run homer just over the wall in left center to give JSU a 4-1 lead. Her second round tripper of the day tied her with Nikki Prier for third on the school's career list with 38.
JSU opened it up in the sixth, plating five runs on six hits to walk off with the mercy rule win.
Jamie McGuire's two-run single started the big inning and was followed by an RBI single from Denes.
Savannah Sloan ended it with her single to right, a two-run base hit that sealed the sweep.
Green (7-2) went the distance to grab the win and allowed a run on five hits in six innings in the circle. She walked two to go along with her eight strikeouts.
Vincent (2-4) suffered the loss after surrendering six runs, four earned, on nine hits in 5.1 innings of work. Brooke Kennedy retired just one batter in relief before allowing three runs on four hits and a walk.
McGuire, Sloan and Oliver each had two hits in the win, while Borders, McGuire, Denes and Sloan each drove in two runs in the game.
JSU is scheduled to host Southeast Missouri in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday at University Field. Admission is free for JSU students and all fans ages 18 and under.
