EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Jacksonville State's bats woke up in a big way in the fourth inning to spark a 13-6 win over Eastern Kentucky on Friday to advance in the elimination bracket of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
 
The second-seeded Gamecocks (38-16) downed the fifth-seeded Colonels (24-28) for the fourth time in seven days to move forward in the double-elimination tournament. They will face host and top seed SIUE in another elimination game either late Friday or early Saturday.
 
JSU rattled off 14 hits and scored nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings to erase a 3-0 deficit and cruise to the win. Freshman Jordan Bullock went 3-for-4, her second 3-hit game of the tournament, and drove in two runs to lead the JSU offense.
 
Fellow freshman Whitney Gillespie homered, while four other players doubled to eliminate the Colonels.
 
The Colonels got three runs in the second, thanks to an RBI single from Krislyn Campos and a two-run double by Paige Murphy that put the Gamecocks in a 3-0 hole early.
 
The Gamecock bats came to life in the fourth, when JSU plated four runs before an out was recorded and chased ace Leanna Pittsenbarger from the circle. A leadoff walk to Borders started the rally and extended her streak of consecutive games reaching base to 39, tied with Idaho State's Vicky Galasso for the longest active streak in the nations.
 
Cadi Oliver followed with an RBI double and then scored on Stephanie Lewis' single up the middle. That set up Whitney Gillespie, who turned on Pittsenbarger's 3-2 pitch and drove it over the wall in left to give JSU its first lead of the day at 4-3.
 
JSU pulled away in the fifth, a five-run frame that saw JSU bat around and rattle off five hits. Oliver was hit for the OVC-leading 17th time with the bases loaded to start the scoring, and RBI singles by Lewis, Taylor Sloan and Jordan Bullock gave JSU a 9-4 lead.
 
The Colonels got one back in the sixth, but JSU answered in the seventh. Taylor Sloan's RBI double scored Gillespie from first and Bullock's third hit of the game drove in Sloan to make it 11-5 in JSU's favor. The Gamecocks didn't stop there, getting an RBI double from Denes and a run-scoring single from Savannah Sloan to make it 13-5.
 
EKU grabbed the final run in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to spoil Logan Green's (14-5) solid relief outing. She limited the Colonels to three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings of relief.  She picked up the win after coming in for Taylor West, who allowed three runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings.
 
EKU reliever Shaylon Robb (8-9) suffered the loss in relief for EKU after allowing five runs on two hits and a walk in a inning of action. Pittsenbarger gave up four runs on five hits in three innings, while Hayley Flinn gave up four runs on six hits.