OXFORD – Jacksonville State got timely hitting and dominant pitching in Saturday and used it in an 8-0 rout of in-state rival Samford at Choccolocco Park.
 
The Gamecocks (13-7) got just four hits, but three of those were home runs, giving Whitney Gillespie more than she needed to dispose of the Bulldogs (6-15) in five innings on Day Two of the Leon Smith Classic.
 
Gillespie (5-4) allowed one hit, an infield single, and struck out three in her shutout of Samford. The Pelham, Ala., native needed just 60 pitches in the five-inning complete game win.
 
Sophomore Anna Chisolm got two of the Gamecocks'  four hits, including a grand slam that put the game away in the fourth inning. Seniors Jamie McGuire and Taylor West got the other two, both homers  earlier in the game.
 
The Gamecocks wasted no time jumping on their in-state rival. A leadoff single from Chisolm and a one-out walk to Sloan set up a three-run homer from McGuire. The senior turned on Taylor DeCelles' 1-1 pitch and drove her fourth homer of the year over the wall in left center to give JSU an early 3-0 lead.
 
In the third, fellow Sloan flashed a little power of her own. Her first homer of the year was a solo shot and came on DeCelles' 1-2 pitch. The Warrior, Ala., native turned on it and drove it over the wall in right to make it a 4-0 JSU advantage.
 
Samford opened the door for the Gamecocks in the fourth and JSU capitalized. A pair of two-out errors by the Bulldogs put Anna Snider and Taylor Rogers on base and then a DeCelles pitch got away and hit Emily Woodruff to load the bases. Chisolm, made her pay, going the other way on the first pitch she saw and driving a grand slam over the wall in left.
 
Chisolm's fifth homer of the season set the stage for a perfect top of the fifth for Gillespie that closed the mercy-rule win.
 
The Gamecocks will wrap up play in the Leon Smith Classic on Sunday at 3:30 p.m., when they take on Alabama A&M on the back fields of Choccolocco Park.