Oxford, Ala. — It took until the bottom of the sixth to break through against Eastern Illinois' Jessica Wireman, but a 4-2 win over Panthers sends Jacksonville State in the finals of the winners' bracket of the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Wireman, fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois' ace held the top-seeded Gamecocks (38-10) without a hit through five innings before
Anna Chisolm beat out an infield single in the bottom of the sixth. The infield single followed
Emily Woodruff's hit-by-pitch and jump started a four-run JSU rally that set the stage for a showdown with SIUE on Friday.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the big sixth inning,
Alexus Jimmerson singled to center to score both Woodruff and Chisolm to tie the game, and then
Jamie McGuire's second homer of the tournament put the Gamecocks up for good.
The OVC's First-Team All-OVC catcher, McGuire followed Jimmerson's run-scoring hit by cranking a two-run, go-ahead home run through a steady wind blowing in from centerfield to cap the Gamecocks' scoring.
Until Chisolm's hit in the sixth, Wireman allowed only four base runners on the afternoon: Jimmerson's hit by pitch in the first, Sloan walk in the bottom of the fourth, Jimmerson's fielder's choice in the fourth and Woodruff's hit by pitch in the sixth. She struck out five Gamecocks up until that point.
In the circle,
Whitney Gillespie, who wore senior pitcher
Jordan Sims' No. 22 jersey for the second-straight contest, moved her season pitching record to 19-4 while lowering her earned run average to 1.06. She allowed two unearned runs, seven hits and only one extra-base hit. She struck out four and did not walk any of the 30 EIU batters she faced.
Eastern Illinois (28-20) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth when a pinch-hitting Jennifer Ames started a two-out rally with a single to left-centerfield. Kayla Bear followed with a second-straight single, moving Ames to second, before Taylor Monahan loaded the bases with an infield single. A fielding error allowed Ames to score, before a strikeout ended the threat. A Panther insurance run was added an inning later when Maria Devito drove home Mady Poulter on a two-out infield single.
The Gamecocks will face the third-seeded Cougars at 3 p.m. Friday with the winner advancing to Saturday's Championship of the double-elimination bracket with an unblemished record.
