JACKSONVILLE – A pair of walk-off wins by the Jacksonville State softball team on Saturday swept a doubleheader and clinched the series with Eastern Kentucky at University Field.
The Gamecocks (35-15, 17-6 Ohio Valley Conference) scored two runs in the seventh and won the first game 2-1 on a walk-off sac fly from
Cadi Oliver. They then run-ruled the Colonels (23-25, 13-9 OVC) 10-2 on a sixth-inning walk-off single from
Ella Denes.
JSU hit .386 as a team in the twinbill, while sophomore
Taylor West and freshman
Whitney Gillespie held the Colonels bats at bay. Gillespie also went 4-for-5 with a double, a homer and two RBI at the plate over the two games. Freshman
Emily Woodruff went 4-for-7 with a pair of RBI and Denes went 4-for-8 with a homer and three RBI.
The Gamecocks had opportunities in the first game but couldn't capitalize until their final chance. They loaded the bases with one out in the first and got a leadoff double in the fifth but got nothing on the board against All-OVC pitcher Leanna Pittsenbarger.
EKU got on the board with one swing in the second, when Sarah Jackson went down and got a West pitch and drove it over the wall in left center. West shut down the Colonels the rest of the way until JSU's offense went to work in the seventh.
Denes was hit by Pittsenbarger's 3-2 pitch to put the tying run on with one out, and
Savannah Sloan's single to right center moved her to second.
Casey Akenberger entered to run for Denes and immediately scored when Borders laced the first pitch of her at bat into right center for a game-tying single.
Sloan moved to third on Borders' hit and scored on the next pitch. Oliver lifted that Pittsenbarger delivery into center and Sloan slid into home just ahead of Paige Murphy's throw to the plate.
The walk-off win was one earned by West (12-4), who limited the Colonels to a run on five hits in her seven innings in the circle. She struck out 11 Colonel batters and walked just one.
Pittsenbarger (10-11) suffered the loss after allowing two runs on seven hits in her 6 2/3 innings of work. She recorded four strikeouts, walked two and hit a batter.
In the second game, the Colonels struck first again, getting an unearned run in the first on an RBI single from Murphy. The lead wouldn't hold for long, as the Gamecocks claimed four unearned runs in the second to pull ahead for good. Two errors set up an RBI single from Woodruff and a two-run homer from Denes that put JSU up 4-1.
Borders made it a 5-1 game on a bases loaded walk in the fourth and
Whitney Gillespie's two-run homer in the fifth put the Gamecocks up 7-1. After a Sarah Fobbs solo homer in the sixth cut JSU's lead to 7-2, the Gamecocks ended it in the sixth.
Oliver homered to lead off the sixth, and RBI singles from Woodruff and Denes finished the walk-off, mercy-rule win.
Gillespie (11-5) earned the win after limiting the Colonels to two runs, one earned, on six hits in six innings. She struck out four and didn't issue a walk. Hayley Flinn (5-6), the first of three EKU pitchers to throw in the game, suffered the loss after surrendering four unearned runs on five hits in just two innings. Shaylon Robb gave up three runs on four hits and four walks in two innings, while Alex Sallberg surrendered the other three runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief.
Denes went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBI in the game, while Gillespie drove in two in her 3-for-4 game at the plate that also featured a homer. Woodruff wasl also 3-for-4 in the win with two RBI.
The Gamecocks will wrap up the regular season on Sunday with the final game of the three-game series at University Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., with the Gamecocks' Senior Day Ceremony to honor their three seniors beginning at 12:50 p.m. Admission is free for JSU students and all fans ages 18 and under.
