OXFORD – A
Taylor Beshears walkoff double in the opener highlighted a doubleheader split with Southern Miss for the Jacksonville State softball team on Sunday at Choccolocco Park.
Beshears went 3-for-4 with her game winner in a 5-4 win in the opening game, while freshman
Karsen Mosley went 3-for-4 in a 10-4 loss in the nightcap.
The Gamecocks pulled off an exciting win in the opener, one that went back-and-forth over the last inning and a half.
JSU scored two on an
Alexus Jimmerson first-inning, bases-loaded double to grab an early lead, and the Golden Eagles answered with a two-run pinch-hit single by Kaitlyn Passeau to tie it in the top of the second.
That 2-2 score held until the bottom of the sixth, when
Anna Chisolm belted her fourth home run of the season through the wind and over the fence in straightaway center field to give the Gamecocks a late 3-2 advantage.
The lead didn't hold, thanks to a Southern Miss rally that saw Tata Davis two-run double down the left field line with two outs that flipped the scoreboard and gave the Golden Eagles a 4-3 advantage.
After two quick outs started the bottom of the seventh,
Sidney Wagnon kept the game alive with a single to left center and
Anna Hood took a pitch off the leg to put the winning run on base for Beshears. The senior from Trussville lined the game winner into the gap in right center to score Wagnon from second and
Hannahstaysia Weaver, who reentered the game to run for her pinch hitter Hood, from first to win the game.
Faith Sims (5-0) earned the win for Jacksonville State, tossing her fifth complete game in as many starts this season. The senior from Cordova, Ala., surrendered four runs on four hits and four walks, while striking out five in her seven innings of work.
Abby Trahan (2-3) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits in 6 and 2/3 innings of work. She struck out nine and didn't issue a walk.
The finale saw the Gamecocks score first, thanks to an RBI single from
Kaley Warren in the second. IT was the first hit of the freshman's career and drove in Chisolm to put the Gamecocks up 1-0 in the second.
The lead didn't last long, however. Southern Miss scored three in the third to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish the rest of the game.
Back-to-back doubles from freshmen Wagnon and Mosley made it a 3-2 game, but four unearned runs after three JSU errors in the fifth opened the game up.
Mosley homered in the fifth to make it a 7-4 game, but the Golden Eagles plated three more in the sixth to put the final 10-4 score on the board.
Kirsten Titus (1-1) suffered the loss for JSU in the second game, allowing seven runs, only three earned, on five hits and three walks in 4 and 1/3 innings.
Nicole Rodriguez retired two batters and didn't allow a run, while Jimmerson gave up three on three hits in two innings in the circle.
Makenna Pierce (2-1) earned the win in relief for Southern Miss, allowing two runs on five hits in 3 and 1/3 innings of work.
The Gamecocks will return to Choccolocco Park on Wednesday, when they host Samford at 4 p.m. Admission is free.
