BIRMINGHAM – Jacksonville State's 11-game win streak came to a halt on Tuesday, when the Gamecocks dropped a 6-3 nonconference decision at UAB.
The Gamecocks (20-14) entered the game No. 79 in the latest RPI and would face the Blazers (16-20), who were 67th in the same rankings. Some early offense and a solid night in the circle from Madison Hir propelled UAB to the win and ended JSU's longest win streak since 2011.
Jacksonville State junior
Jamie McGuire continued her tear at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a homer. After not homering in her first 23 games this season, the Glencoe native has caught fire over the past 11 games. In that stretch, she is 18-for-35 (.514) with three doubles, five homers, 16 RBI and a 1.029 slugging percentage. She is one of eight Gamecocks hitting over .400 during that span, one that has seen them hit .405 as a team.
She provided half of the offense against Hir (5-6) on Tuesday, getting two of JSU's four hits. Hir allowed three runs in seven innings, striking out seven and walking two.
Taylor West (5-5) suffered the loss for JSU, giving up six runs on 10 hits in six innings. She struck out five and walked a pair.
Senior
Ella Denes and sophomore
Jordan Bullock each recorded one hit, with Denes' dropping for a double.
Caitlin Attfield went 4-for-4 from the UAB leadoff spot and scored three times to lead the Blazers. Mary Warren drove in four runs in her 2-for-3 outing.
UAB got a run in the first on a Warren single that scored Attfield after her first hit of the night. Warren then hit a three-run homer in the third that gave the Blazers a 4-0 lead.
JSU cut the lead in half in the fourth on a Hir wild pitch that scored Bullock and a
Whitney Gillespie sacrifice fly. UAB answered quickly, grabbing the two runs back in the home half of the fourth, thanks to an Attfield RBI single and a wild pitch that scored the sixth and final run.
McGuire's homer led off the seventh and finished the scoring for the night.
The Gamecocks return to Ohio Valley Conference play on Saturday, when they play a doubleheader at Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The first game starts at 1 p.m. and will put JSU's perfect 10-0 start to league play on the line. The 10-straight wins mark the best start to OVC play in school history.
