JACKSONVILLE –
Faith Sims' arm and
Lex Hull's bat led the Jacksonville State softball team to a sweep of SIU-Edwardsville on Friday at University Field.
Sims earned the win in both games for the Gamecocks (21-8, 4-1 Ohio Valley Conference), tossing a three-hitter in a 4-0 first game and then tossing four innings of relief in an 11-10, 10 inning marathon in the finale against the Cougars (8-13, 0-2 OVC).
Hull put the exclamation point on a good day for the Gamecocks, belting a walk-off homer in the 11th of the nightcap. The homer capped a day that saw her go 4-for-7 with the homer, a double and three RBI over the two games. She was 4-for-5 in the second game.
Hull,
Hannahstaysia Weaver and
Anna Chisolm each recorded four hits on the day, leading a JSU offense that hit .294, scored 15 runs and notched 20 hits over the two games.
Sims (14-1) tossed 11 shutout innings over the two games. The native of Cordova, Ala., held SIUE to three hits over seven shutout frames in the opener, Sims' 12th complete game and fifth shutout of the season. In the nightcap, she allowed just two hits in four relief innings to grab that win and improve to 5-0 with a 0.54 ERA in JSU's six OVC games so far.
Sims and SIUE's Emily Ingles dueled for a while in the opener.
Taylor Beshears put JSU on the board in the third with her 10th home run of the year, a solo blast to deep left center. Neither pitcher allowed anything else until the sixth, when JSU got three insurance runs on a two-run
Amber Jones double and an RBI grounder from
Jada Terry.
The Cougars loaded the bases on Sims with one out in the seventh, but the Gamecocks' ace got a strike out and a ground out to strand them and secure the win.
Ingles (5-7) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on four hits and six walks in six innings of work. Sims struck out six in her seven innings of three-hit softball.
The second game was a different story, with the two combining for 20 runs before Ingles and Sims came back into the circle to settle things down.
SIUE scored two in the first, only to watch the Gamecocks answer with three in the bottom of the inning. A two-run single from Chisolm tied it, while an RBI double from Hull put JSU on top.
After SIUE tied it in the top of the third, JSU seemed to break it open in the home half of that frame, plating three on a bases-clearing three-run double by
Hayley Sims that missed clearing the center field wall by a few feet.
The Cougars came to life after that, scoring three in the fourth and four in the fifth to take what looked to be a commanding 10-6 lead.
JSU nipped away, scoring one on a fifth inning
Hayley Sims double and then three in the sixth to tie the game.
Anna Hood doubled in the first two of those and then Hull placed an infield single just out of the reach of shortstop Alana Cobb-Adams to drive in the other and tie the game at 10-10.
Ingles and Sims put zeroes on the board for the next three and a half innings, before Hull stepped in with two outs and the bases empty before delivering her game winner.
Ingles lost again, this time allowing three runs on seven hits in 4 and 2/3 innings in the circle. She was beaten by Sims' four innings of two-hit work that also saw her strike out four.
JSU will be at home on Sunday, when the Gamecocks host Eastern Illinois in a 1 p.m. doubleheader at University Field. Tickets can be purchased at www.JSUGamecockSports.com/Tickets, and JSU Students and fans ages 18 and under receive free admission. The game will also be broadcast live on ESPN+.
