MOBILE – The Jacksonville State softball team capped the Sand Dollar Classic in style on Sunday with a 10-2 mercy-rule win over Houston Baptist.
The Gamecocks (4-1) put the finishing touches on an impressive opening weekend by rolling to their second mercy-rule win of the weekend. They amassed 13 hits against the Huskies and were led by junior
Emily Woodruff's 3-for-3 day that included a grand slam.
The win ended an opening week that saw JSU outscore its opponents 36-6, post a .355 team average and hold opposing batters to a .139 average. Senior
Jamie McGuire, who was 2-for-3 on Sunday, finished the weekend with a .615 average (8-for-13) with two doubles, a homer and five RBI.
On Sunday, JSU got on the board first on a first-inning RBI single by senior
Stephanie Lewis. The Huskies got a run in the third that tied the game, but the Gamecocks rolled from that point.
JSU rallied for six runs in the home half of the third, a frame that started with sophomore
Hayley Sims' two-run double and ended after Woodruff's grand slam. The Albertville native connected on the first pitch of her at bat, pulling Emily Mueller's pitch over the wall in left.
After HBU got one back in the fourth to make it a 7-2 JSU lead, the Gamecocks plated two in the fifth on
Caitlyn Sapp's two-run double.
Leila Chambers finished the scoring with a walk-off triple in the sixth that scored McGuire and put the deciding 10-2 score on the board.
In the circle, freshman
Alexus Jimmerson (1-0) grabbed the win in her first career start. The Jackson, Tenn., native allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits in four innings of work. Sophomore
Kirsten Titus held HBU to just one hit in two scoreless frames of relief work.
Mueller (1-1) suffered the loss for the Huskies after allowing three runs on six hits in 2.2 innings.
The Gamecocks return to action Friday, when they begin play in the Southern Miss Black & Gold Invitational in Hattiesburg, Miss. JSU will play Mississippi Valley State at 1 p.m. and Nicholls State at 4 p.m. on the first day of the tournament.
