HATTIESBURG, Miss. – A late Jacksonville State rally fell just short on Friday night in a 5-4 loss at Southern Miss in the opening game of a three-game series at the USM Softball Complex.
Two early runs and three no-hit innings from
Faith Sims gave the Gamecocks (5-7) an early boost, but the Golden Eagles (5-7) scored five unanswered runs and held off a seventh-inning surge from JSU to hang on. It gives the home team the win the opener of the series, which will wrap up with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Taylor Beshears led the JSU offense with her 3-for-4 night that also saw her score and drive in a run.
Alexus Jimmerson was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
The Gamecocks got on the board first, plating a run in the top of the second inning. Jimmerson led off the frame with a single and then eventually tagged on
Taylor Rogers' sac fly to center that gave JSU a 1-0 lead.
Jimmerson drove in the next run of the game in the very next inning. Her RBI double off the right field wall scored Beashears after her leadoff single and gave the Gamecocks a 2-0 advantage.
Sims (3-3) held the Golden Eagles hitless through the first three innings, but the fourth turned the game around. Southern Miss started the innings with a walk and then a fielding error that put two runners on with no outs. Ciarra Cherry broke up the no-hitter with an RBI double that got the Golden Eagles on the board, and then Alyssa Davis delivered a two-run single to center that gave the home team a 3-2 lead.
The Golden Eagles scored two more in the sixth on Jade Lewis' two-run single, stretching the lead to 5-2.
The Gamecocks made their push in the seventh, getting a leadoff double from
Emily Woodruff, an error that allowed
Anna Chisolm to reach and then an RBI single from Beshears that made it a two-run game.
Jimmerson's grounder moved the runners to second an third and a wild pitch allowed Chisolm to make it a one-run game before JSU's last chance ended with a
Hayley Sims fly out to center.
Sims suffered the loss after allowing five runs on five hits and a pair of walks in six innings of work. She struck out seven batters.
Samantha Robles (2-3) earned the win, holding the Gamecocks to four runs on eight hits in her seven-inning outing. She struck out nine batters and didn't issue a walk.
