TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Faith Sims limited Kennesaw State's offense for 10 innings and got some late inning heroics in a 5-3 elimination game win for the Jacksonville State softball team on Saturday in the Tallahassee Regional.
 
Sims allowed three runs on just five hits in her 10-inning complete game for the Gamecocks (34-24) and eliminated the Owls (39-17) from their first ever Division I NCAA Regional appearance. JSU advanced in the elimination bracket with the win to face Auburn later in the day.


 
Sims (23-10) allowed just one extra base hit and struck out nine in her first career NCAA Tournament win and avenged a loss to No. 6 Florida State in Friday's opener. The Cordova, Ala., native threw 170 pitches in the longest outing of her career.
 
The Gamecocks got several timely hits in the win, the first a two-run homer from Anna Chisolm that started the scoring in the third. Caitlyn Sapp delivered the next, a solo blast in the seventh that tied the game and sent it into extras. The last came in the 10th, when Leila Chambers drove the game-winning RBI single into right and Hayley Sims plated an insurance run with her run-scoring hit to left.
 
The Gamecocks broke through in the third and used the long ball to do it. After Caitlyn Sapp drew an 11-pitch walk to reach with one out, Anna Chisolm launched an 0-2 pitch from Abigail Green off the scoreboard in right center and gave JSU a 2-0 lead.
 
Faith Sims kept the Owls off the board until the home half of the fourth, when an infield single and a walk led things off and set the table for KSU. A double steal from Patricia Awald and Meredith Milam put runners at second and third with no outs, and both would score to tie the game before the inning ended.
 
The Owls took their first lead of the game in a hitless fifth, an inning that started with a walk and hit batter. A sac bunt moved the runners over and a wild pitch allowed Olivia Tamewitz to score the go-ahead run.
 
The Gamecocks were down to their last chance in the seventh, but Sapp delivered a little magic that kept her career alive for a little longer. The senior drove a 1-0 pitch onto the berm beyond the left field wall to lead off the inning and tie the game at 3-3.
 
Sims battled from there, putting zero after zero up on the board to give her offense a chance to win it. She held the Owls scoreless over the final five frames and got the offense she needed in the 10th.
 
The final inning started with a bunt single by Chisolm, who moved to third on grounders by Taylor Beshears and Alexus Jimmerson. She scored to give JSU a 4-3 lead when Leila Chambers drove an RBI single into right field. 
 
The Gamecocks plated another in the inning, when Hayley Sims dropped a single into the left center field gap and scored pinch runner Hannahstaysia Weaver from second.
 
The Gamecocks beat KSU's Alley Cutting (17-10) who entered the game in the seventh and tossed the final four innings. She gave up two runs on three hits, all in the 10th, and struck out three. Abigail Green started the game and surrendered three runs on four hits in six innings of work, striking out nine and walking two.
 
Chisolm and Hayley Sims each had two hits in the game, while Chisolm led the way with two RBI.