JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State capped a perfect weekend at home on Sunday, when the Gamecocks swept Eastern Illinois in an Ohio Valley Conference doubleheader at University Field.
The Gamecocks (23-8, 7-1 OVC) rolled to a 7-0 win in game one behind another gem from
Faith Sims and then saw her come in and pick up the save in a 7-6 win in the finale. She closed the door on
Lexi Androlevich's first career win in the circle.
The JSU offense ended with stellar numbers against the Panthers (10-27, 1-7 OVC) in the twinbill, putting together a .320 average and scoring 14 runs. Of the Gamecocks' 16 hits, seven went for extra bases, including three home runs, three triples and a double.
JSU struggled from the plate in all but one inning in game one, but that inning was plenty. Panther starter Hannah Cravens took a no-hitter into the fourth and retired the first two batters of the inning before the Gamecocks erupted for seven two-out runs to blow the game open.
Sims (15-1) wouldn't need near that much support. The senior from Cordova, Ala., handcuffed the Panthers bats, shutting them out on two hits to grab her 15th win of the year and improve to 6-0 in league play. After not allowing an earned run in two relief innings in the second game on Sunday, she now holds a 0.40 earned run average in league play. She has allowed just two earned runs in 35 innings of work vs. conference foes and is holding OVC batters to a .118 average.
That fourth inning happened quickly for JSU after Cravens (0-3) kept the no-no intact by getting a pair of fly outs to start the frame.
Alexus Jimmerson broke it up with a solo homer off the scoreboard in right center, and then after a hit batter and a walk,
Jada Terry drove in a run to make it 2-0.
Hannahstaysia Weaver got an infield single to load the bases and keep her hot hitting in OVC play alive and then scored when
Karsen Mosley's triple cleared the bases.
Taylor Beshears capped the frame with a solo homer to left that put the seventh run on the board.
Weaver recorded hits in both games on Sunday, improving her team-high batting average in league play to .464. The sophomore from Pisgah, Ala., leads a team that has three players batting over .400 in OVC games and is batting .335 as a team against conference foes.
In the second game, JSU scored one in the second on an RBI triple off the center field wall by
Amber Jones.
EIU answered with three in the third, but its two-run lead was brief. JSU scored three in the home half, the first on a wild pitch and the next two on bases loaded walks to
Anna Chisolm and Jones.
The Panthers tied it in the fourth, but an RBI grounder from Mosley and a two-run homer from Beshears in the bottom of the fourth put a 7-4 JSU lead on the board. EIU got runs in the fifth and sixth, but couldn't scratch another one across in getting swept.
Androlevich (1-0) tossed five innings in the start and earned her first collegiate win. She allowed five runs on 12 hits, striking out two and not issuing a walk.
Sims entered in the sixth, when an unearned run crossed to snap a streak of 20 consecutive scoreless innings tossed by the JSU ace. She closed the door in the seventh to pick up her second save of the year and extend her streak of innings without allowing an earned run to 21 and 1/3 innings.
Beshears was 3-for-4 in the second game, capping a 4-for-8 day at the plate that featured two homers and five RBI.
Jade Montgomery (4-13) suffered the loss for EIU in the final game, surrendering seven runs on eight hits and three walks in 3 and 2.3 innings of work.
JSU will be in action on Wednesday, when they take on Mississippi State in Huntsville, Ala., in a game that will be played on the campus of Alabama-Huntsville. The Gamecocks will return home on Friday for an OVC doubleheader against Austin Peay that will begin at 1 p.m. at University Field.
