JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team had its eight-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday in a 6-2 loss to Arkansas at University Field.
Missed opportunities in the second and fifth innings doomed the Gamecocks (20-8) and lifted the Razorbacks (14-17) to the first win by a visiting team in University Field this season.
The Gamecocks loaded the bases with no outs in the second but couldn't push a run across and then saw fielding miscues early in the fifth spark a five-run inning for Arkansas.
Juniors
Ella Denes and
Cadi Oliver each went 2-for-3 in the middle of the JSU lineup, with Denes doubling twice and scoring a run. That run came on Oliver's one double, the back end of back-to-back two baggers in the sixth.
Arkansas rattled off nine hits, led by Tori Cooper's 3-for-3 outing at the plate. No one left the park, snapping a streak of eight-straight games with at least one homer for the Gamecock offense.
The Gamecocks threatened early, loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second, but three ground balls got Razorbacks ace Sydney Wright out of the inning without any damage on the scoreboard. She went on to retire nine in a row to put her offense in position to take the lead.
The Razorbacks got one across in the third to take a 1-0 lead and then broke it open with a five-run, five-hit fifth inning that also saw a pair of Gamecock errors in the field.
JSU got on the board in the home half of the fifth, when back-to-back singles from
Savannah Sloan and
Taylor Sloan set up a pair of ground outs from
Emily Woodruff and
Jordan Bullock that pushed one across and made it a 6-1 game.
JSU got one more in the sixth on back-to-back doubles from Denes and Oliver, but the Gamecocks couldn't draw any closer.
Wright (9-7) earned the win in the circle for the Razorbacks after allowing two runs on six hits through 5.1 innings. She walked two and struck out one before making way for Haley Meinen, who allowed one hit while recording the final four outs of the game.
Whitney Gillespie (7-3) suffered the loss for JSU after surrendering six runs on eight hits in five frames. She struck out three and walked one.
Logan Green allowed a hit in two scoreless innings of relief that saw her strike out a pair and walk a pair.
The Gamecocks return to Ohio Valley Conference play on Saturday, when they start a three-game series with Tennessee State at University Field. The weekend will start with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping up with a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday. Admission is free for JSU students and fans ages 18 and under. It will also be Military Appreciation Weekend, where all active military and veterans will receive free admission for them and their families at all three games.
