OXFORD – Alexus Jimmerson delivered a game-ending double off the center field wall that gave the Jacksonville State softball team a dramatic 11-10 win in a back-and-forth Ohio Valley Conference Tournament opener with Eastern Illinois.
 
The third-seeded Gamecocks (30-23) never led until Jimmerson's walk-off hit bounced back into play off of the yellow tape atop the Choccolocco Park wall and overcame a 5-run deficit at one point to send the sixth-seeded Panthers (34-19) to the loser's bracket of the tournament. JSU advances to play in the winner's bracket at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday against the winner of the Austin Peay/UT Martin game later Wednesday.
 


EIU scored three in the first and stretched its lead to as many as five at 9-4 in the top of the fifth, but the Gamecocks kept plucking away. They tied the game with a three-run sixth before needed more dramatics after falling behind again in the seventh.
 
Every starter in the JSU lineup reached at least once in the game, with seven of them recording at least one of the team's 11 hits. Seven also scored at least one time in the win, JSU's sixth-straight in OVC Tournament openers.
 
Jimmerson and Emily Woodruff each had three hits in the game, while Taylor Beshears and Leila Chambers had two apiece.
 
Woodruff, a senior that became the fifth Gamecock to earn an All-OVC mention in four years on Tuesday, became the ninth player to record 200 career hits after her big day. She ran her career hits total to 202, while also scoring twice in the game.
 
Jimmerson drove in a team-high three runs, while Anna Chisolm, Taylor Beshears and Hayley Sims each drove in two. Beshears and Sims also homered in the win.
 
The game got off to a rocky start for the Gamecocks, who surrendered three runs in the top of the first. The Panthers managed just two hits but benefitted from three walks to claim an early lead.
 
The Gamecocks grabbed one in the home half of the inning after leadoff walks to Caitlyn Sapp and Anna Chisolm set up Alexus Jimmerson's RBI single through the right side. JSU stranded two runners in the inning and EIU held a 3-1 lead after a 31-minute first inning.
 
The Panthers scored another in the third inning, when Andrea Roberts legged out a two-out infield single that allowed a run to score from third and give them a 4-1 lead.
 
JSU got it back quickly in the home half of the third, this time on the long ball. Taylor Beshears launched Jessica Wireman's 2-0 pitch into the parking lot beyond the left center field wall for her team-leading eighth homer of the year.
 
EIU got another run without the benefit of a hit in the fourth, an inning that saw a hit batter to start and three walks. The final one was to Breya Cooper and came with the bases loaded to give the Panthers a 5-2 advantage.
 
JSU answered again, scoring two in the bottom of the fourth, the first on an Emily Woodruff single up the middle and the second on a sac fly to left center from Chisolm. Chambers, who started the inning with a single, tagged from third on Chisolm's fly and cut the Panthers lead to 5-4.
 
EIU opened it up in the fifth, scoring four times to take a 9-4 lead in a frame that was highlighted by Haley Mitchell's two-run homer. 
 
JSU used some power to get two back in the bottom of the frame. Jimmerson walked to lead it off and then Hayley Sims hit a monster home run off of the top of the column holding the scoreboard up in right center. The blast brought the Gamecocks back to within three at 9-6.
 
The Gamecocks put a zero on the board in the top of the sixth and then went to work in the bottom half. They scored three runs to tie the game at 9-9, getting the first on a Chisolm RBI double to left center and the next two on Taylor Beshears' single to right.
 
It didn't stay tied for long, with Eastern Illinois scoring in the top of eth seventh to reclaim the lead. It was Mitchell again, this time with a single to left that scored Kayla Bear after she led off the inning with a walk.
 
JSU had a little more magic in its hat for the bottom of the seventh. Woodruff led off with her third single of the day and then Sapp walked to put the winning run on base. After a fly out by Chisolm and a Beshears strike out, the stage was set for Jimmerson's dramatics.
 
Her game-winning double handed Wireman (15-11) the loss after the Panther ace allowed eight runs on 10 hits in 6 and 2/3 innings in the circle. She threw 154 pitches in the game, walking five and striking out six.
 
Faith Sims (19-9) grabbed the win after tossing five innings. She started the game and threw the first four innings before making way for Nicole Rodriguez. Sims returned to the circle after a leadoff walk in the seventh and finished the inning. Sims allowed seven runs on five hits and eight walks in five innings. She struck out four.
 
Rodriguez gave up three runs on three hits and two walks in her two innings of relief work.