SAVANNAH, Ga. – Big innings were the difference for Jacksonville State on Friday, when the Gamecocks swept Opening Day of the softball season with wins over Western Carolina and Savannah State.
The Gamecocks (2-0) scored seven runs in the first inning and held on in a 7-6 win over the Catamounts to open the day before using a five-run sixth to post a 7-4 come-from-behind win over the Lady Tigers on day one of the Inaugural SSU Lady Tiger Invitational.
Junior pitcher
Taylor West earned the save in the opener and tossed a complete game to win the second game, while JSU turned to some timely hitting late. Junior
Emily Church made her first career hit count, belting a two-out grand slam against SSU to erase a 2-1 deficit and lift JSU.
Senior
Cadi Oliver followed Church with a solo homer and the first back-to-back blasts of 2016 lifted JSU to a sweep on Opening Day for the third-straight year.
Junior
Jamie McGuire went 3-for-7 for JSU on the day with a double and an RBI. Oliver drove in two runs in her 2-for-5 day, while senior
Ella Denes also had a pair of hits.
In the first game of the day, the Catamounts struck early. They got a one-out double from Courtney Price and then a two-run homer from Crystal Cyr to make it a 2-0 game in the top of the first.
The lead didn't last long. The Gamecocks plated seven in the bottom of the first, an inning that saw four hits, four walks and a hit by pitch, to take an early five-run lead.
Ella Denes,
Jamie McGuire,
Emily Woodruff and
Anna Chisolm all singled in runs in the frame, with Chisolm's being her first career hit and RBI.
WCU got two back in the second on an RBI single from Amber Kimrey and a run-scoring double by Price that cut JSU's lead to 7-4. Akenberger entered the game in relief of true freshman
Faith Sims in the third and didn't allow a hit until the seventh, when the Catamounts put together a rally.
WCU got two in that seventh on RBI singles from Cyr and Taylor Sigmon to cut the JSU lead to 7-6 and force the Gamecocks to go to the bullpen again. Junior
Taylor West entered the game with runners at the corners and one out and got a ground out and a strike out to close the door and earn her first save of the year.
Courtney Buchanan (0-1) was chased from the WCU circle in the first before recording an out. The starter allowed four runs on no hits but walked three before being replaced by Sigmon. Akenberger (1-0) earned the win in relief after holding the Catamounts to two runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. She struck out three and walked three.
In the second game of the day, the Gamecocks and Lady Tigers played two scoreless innings before JSU dented the scoreboard in the top of the third. Sophomore
Leila Chambers led off the inning with a triple and scored on an infield single from
Jordan Bullock to take a 1-0 lead.
West held SSU at bay for four innings, but a solo homer from Torrian Wright and an RBI single by Alexis Singleton turned the one-run JSU lead into a 2-1 deficit.
The Gamecock bats didn't let it last long. Church delivered her grand slam on a 2-2 pitch with two outs in the top of the sixth and Oliver followed with her solo bomb that put the Gamecocks up 6-2. After SSU got one back in the home half of the sixth, a leadoff single from Denes led to an insurance run in the seventh.
The Lady Tigers would get one more in the seventh before West (1-0) finished off the complete game. She allowed four runs on seven hits in her seven innings in the circle, while striking out 12. She did walk six and hit five batters, including Tia Bolden three times.
Amanda Hallman (0-1) suffered the loss for SSU, surrendering seven runs on eight hits in seven innings. She struck out six and walked one.
The Gamecocks continue play in the tournament on Saturday, when they take on College of Charleston at 5 p.m. CT. The weekend will conclude with a 12 p.m. CT game against Drexel on Sunday.
