JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team swept a doubleheader from Southeast Missouri on Sunday at University Field, winning game one 3-0 before outslugging the Redhawks 9-5 in the nightcap.
 
Junior Whitney Gillespie threw a total of nine shutout innings on the day, including a four-hit complete game in the first game of the day. The Pelham native didn't allow a hit in two relief innings in game two of the Gamecocks (21-9, 3-1 Ohio Valley Conference) first conference sweep of the season.
 
At the plate, JSU hit .358 as a team with a .443 collective on-base percentage to outscore the Redhawks (15-14, 0-4 OVC) 12-5. Senior Jamie McGuire homered and walked three times in her 3-for-4 day, while fellow senior Taylor Sloan went 4-for-7 with four RBI, all in the second game.
 
Junior Leila Chambers made her way into the JSU lineup in right field and made the most of it. The Molena, Ga., native went 3-for-6 with a double and an RBI over the two games.
 
Gillespie (11-3) was stellar in the circle, tossing her 11th complete game and fourth shutout of the season in the opener. She needed just 99 pitches to dispose of the Redhawks lineup in game one, while the offense put together just enough offense to grab the win.
 
McGuire was 2-for-2 with a homer, a walk and two RBI in the win, while Sloan also had two hits in a 2-for-3 game.
 
JSU scored in the first after an Anna Chisolm triple set up an RBI ground out from Alexus Jimmerson. A McGuire single in the second plated Chambers and her solo homer in the fourth capped the scoring in the game.
 
Mackenzie Hoelting (0-4) suffered the loss for SEMO, allowing three runs on seven hits in six frames that also saw her walk five and strike out one.
 
In the nightcap, JSU struck early again. The Gamecocks got three runs in the first inning, thanks to an RBI double by senior Stephanie Lewis and a two-run single from Sloan.
 
After SEMO got one back on a Darby Pruett solo homer in the second, Chisolm took Redhawks starter Madeline Krumrey deep in the home half of the second for her team-leading seventh homer of the season.
 
SEMO scored another in the fifth to make it a 4-2 JSU game, but the Gamecocks responded in a big way to score five runs on five hits in the bottom of the fifth and take a commanding 9-2 lead. In the big inning, JSU got a two-run triple from Sloan, RBI singles from Hayley Sims and Emil Woodruff and an RBI double from Chambers.
 
Senior Taylor West (8-4) earned the win for JSU, tossing 4.2 innings and allowing two runs on just for hits and a pair of walks. The Anniston native struck out three. Gillespie pitched two innings in relief, striking out one and allowing just one baserunner on a hit batter. She retired the last six batters she faced in the game.
 
The Gamecocks continue a busy week at University Field on Tuesday, when they host Alabama State at 5 p.m.. They will then welcome Ole Miss for a 5 p.m. game on Wednesday before getting back to OVC play with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Murray State on Saturday. JSU students and all fans ages 18 and under receive free admission to all JSU home softball games.