RUSTON, La. – Quick starts told the story on Friday, when the Jacksonville State softball team split games with Grambling and Lamar to open the Louisiana Tech Classic.
 
The Gamecocks (6-6) jumped on Grambling with eight runs in the first inning and cruised to an 11-3 mercy-rule win to start the day, but a four-run first and three-run second by Lamar set the tone in a 9-2 win by the Cardinals in the nightcap.
 
In the opening game against the Lady Tigers, JSU scored eight runs on six hits in the first inning, a frame that was highlighted by a two-run single from Jordan Bullock and a two-run double from Taylor Sloan.
 
The big inning gave JSU and starter Taylor West a cushion that was used to roll to the 6-inning win. True freshman Hayley Sims swung the big stick in the win, going 2-for-2 with her first two career homers and three RBI.
 
The Carrolton, Ga., native drove in her first run of the day with a first inning sac fly and then got a little more of her next two at bats. A solo bomb in the fourth pushed JSU's lead to 10-2 and another solo shot in the sixth put the deciding 11-3 advantage on the board.
 
She and sophomore Emily Woodruff each had a pair of hits in the win, while Sloan went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead Jax State at the plate.
 
West grabbed the win in the circle, tossing three innings in the shortened game and allowing two runs on two hits and five walks in the process. She struck out four. Junior Jordan Sims tossed one inning, allowing an unearned run on two hits and two walks, before senior Casey Akenberger finished the final two innings and didn't allow a Grambling baserunner.
 
The day's finale wasn't so kind to the Gamecocks, who dug themselves an early hole against a Cardinals (11-2) team that came into the game riding a seven-game win streak and hitting .336 as a club.
 
The top of the first set the tone for the game and saw Lamar score four on five hits, including a two-run double from Sable Hankins. A three-spot in the second chased starter Faith Sims and made way for freshman Kirsten Titus, who followed Sims' six-run outing by allowing one run in an inning.
 
Akenberger came on again to quiet the opposing bats, holding the Cardinals to two runs, one earned on three hits in five innings of relief work.
 
The Gamecocks got on the board in the second, thanks to a two-run double from senior Ella Denes that found the gap in left center and scored Woodruff and Stephanie Lewis.
 
The Gamecocks will conclude the tournament on Saturday, when they face Liberty at 2:30 p.m. and host La Tech at 5 p.m.