ATLANTA – The Jacksonville State softball team picked up its sixth-straight win in impressive fashion on Wednesday, when the Gamecocks upended Georgia Tech 7-1 at Mewborn Field.
 
The win was JSU's third-straight against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta and gave the Gamecocks (9-1) the best start to a season since the 2004 team went 12-1 to start.
 
Senior Taylor West took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and junior Whitney Gillespie closed the door on the Yellow Jackets (3-8) in the Gamecocks' first midweek game of the season. The duo held Tech to just three hits and combined for 10 strikeouts in the circle.
 
The JSU offense was getting it done at the plate in the game. The Gamecocks racked up nine hits in the seven-run outburst that saw senior Taylor Sloan go 3-for-4 with a double. Sophomore Anna Chisolm drove in a pair in her 2-for-4 outing, while Gillespie plated a pair on a pinch-hit homer in the sixth.
 
The Gamecocks got on the board early, thanks to a Jamie McGuire RBI single that followed Sloan's double. That 1-0 lead held until the fifth, when JSU added to its total. Sloan looped a bases-loaded single into right that scored two and made JSU's lead a 3-0 one.
 
Gillespie's blast started a four-run sixth that put the game away for JSU. She entered the game to pinch hit after a McGuire walk and deposited one well beyond the wall in left to make it a 5-0 JSU lead. Chisolm put the final two runs up on her single later in the inning.
 
West took her no-no bid into the bottom of the sixth, but a Kelsey Chisolm single to left spoiled it. Draven Sonnen followed with a double, forcing Jana McGinnis to turn to Gillespie out of the bullpen to finish the game. She got out of the frame by only allowing one run and then worked a scoreless seventh to seal the win.
 
West (4-0) struck out eight in her five innings of work and only allowed the two sixth-inning hits. Gillespie allowed one hit in her two innings and struck out two in the process.
 
Emily Anderson (0-3) suffered the loss for Georgia Tech, allowing a run on two hits in four frames.
 
The Gamecocks head home to University Field, where they will open their home schedule this weekend with a three-game series against Southern Miss. It starts Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader and will conclude Sunday with a 1 p.m. single game. Admission is free for JSU students and fans ages 18 and under. For tickets, visit www.jsugamecocksports.com or call the JSU Ticket Office at 256-782-8499.