PHOTO GALLERY

OXFORD – Jacksonville State used a 12-run fifth inning to rout Eastern Kentucky and move into Saturday's Championship Game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament at Choccolocco Park.
 
In what looked to be a pitchers duel between two first team All-OVC aces, the top-seeded Gamecocks (40-14) broke it open in the big inning and rolled into the title game of the double elimination tournament without a blemish on their record. The third-seeded Colonels (37-16) fall into the loser's bracket and will play at 10 a.m. for the chance to face JSU in the title game.
 
The win secured the 10th 40-win season in JSU history and extended the Gamecocks' current win streak to a school-record 20 games. JSU has now won 31 of its last 32 games and is 29-0 against OVC opposition in 2016.
 
EKU's Hayley Flynn coasted through the first four innings, striking out 10 Gamecock batters before the JSU bats woke up. By the time the dust settled on the fifth inning, JSU had plated 12 runs on 10 hits and three Colonel errors to break it open.
 
JSU's ace, Whitney Gillespie, didn't let up. She improved to 16-1 and dropped her OVC-leading earned run average to 0.89 by holding EKU scoreless on three hits through five frames. Flynn (26-9) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in four innings. Alex Sallberg tossed an inning of relief and allowed seven runs, just one earned, on five hits.
 
Eight Gamecocks recorded at least one hit in the win, with Jordan Bullock, Stephanie Lewis, Taylor Sloan and Gillespie each notching two apiece.  Lewis got the rally started with a two-run double and Sloan delivered a three-run double in the inning for three of her team-high four RBI.