MOBILE – The Jacksonville State softball team started its 2017 season off on the right note, sweeping a pair of games at the Sand Dollar Classic at South Alabama's Jaguar Field on Opening Day.
 
The Gamecocks (2-0) rolled to a 12-1 win over Alabama State in the first game of the year before disposing of Central Arkansas, 7-0 in game two. The win over the Hornets came via the mercy rule in five innings, while the second win of the season saw reigning Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year Whitney Gillespie dominate the Bears.
 
Jax State held opposing batters to just four hits in 12 combined innings of work in the circle and allowed just one run over the two wins. Gillespie picked up where she left off in her stellar sophomore campaign of 2016, striking out 10 and allowing just one hit in six shutout innings against the Bears. The junior from Pelham also had a solid day at the plate, going 3-for-7 with three RBI.
 
Senior Taylor Sloan led the Gamecocks with six RBI on the day, driving in four of those in the second game. The big swing for the Warrior native was a three-run triple in the sixth inning that broke open the game against UCA.
 
Fellow senior Stephanie Lewis drove in four runs on the day, three of which came on her three-run homer in the win over Alabama State.
 
The first game pitted the two NCAA Tournament teams from 2016 against each other, and it didn't take long for JSU to take control. Jax State plated seven runs in the second inning and coasted from that point, ending the game after five innings.
 
JSU scored its seven second-inning runs on five hits and a pair of ASU errors, with the highlight coming on a two-run single to right by Gillespie. The big inning started with a Lewis single that was followed by a couple of punctuations on a pair of comeback stories.
 
Senior Cadi Oliver, who missed most of 2016 with an injury and received a medical redshirt to come back for a fifth season at JSU, walked in her first at bat in 11 months. That set up the first collegiate at bat for junior Taylor Rogers, who was forced to step away from softball after high school due to knee injuries.
 
Rogers delivered in her first at bat in over three years, driving a single to right that loaded the bases and set up an Anna Snider walk that got JSU on the board. The walk resulted in Snider's first career RBI in a Gamecock uniform.
 
The other big inning came in the fifth, when Lewis' homer highlighted a five-run frame that gave the Gamecocks a 12-0 lead. The Hornets got one run in the fifth to put the final score on the board.
 
Senior Taylor West (1-0) was stellar in her season debut, tossing three hitless innings to earn the win. The Anniston native struck out four before making way for sophomore Faith Sims. The Cordova product allowed just one run over two frames.
 
Vanessa Bradford suffered the loss for ASU after allowing 10 runs, seven earned, on six hits in 3.1 innings of work.
 
The second game saw JSU give Gillespie more run support than she needed. The Gamecocks got on the board with a run in the third on Sloan's sac fly to center. They got one more in the fifth on an RBI single by Lewis and then scored five in the sixth to break the game open.
 
Gillespie (1-0) faced just 21 batters in the win, while freshman Alexus Jimmerson struck out two in a hitless seventh in her collegiate debut.
 
Kayla Gomness (0-2) took the loss for UCA, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings in the circle.
 
The Gamecocks continue play in the Sand Dollar Classic on Saturday, when they face UCA again at 3 p.m. before taking on the host Jaguars at 5:30 p.m.