LUBBOCK, Texas – The Jacksonville State softball team defeated Northern Colorado in extra innings before falling to Gardner-Webb to split on the first day of the Texas Tech Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic on Friday.
 
In the opening game, Faith Sims took a no-hitter into the fifth and Taylor Beshears sparked a three-run eighth inning with her leadoff home run to lead the Gamecocks (10-5) to a 4-1 win. To close the day, JSU erased a 2-0 deficit in the fourth, but a late run by the Bulldogs handed the Gamecocks a 3-2 defeat.
 
The opener saw a pitcher's duel between Sims and Maggie Thurston of the Bears for the first several innings. Sims didn't allow a baserunner until the fourth and a hit until the fifth, while Thurston had her best start of the season in holding JSU to a run in 4 and 2/3 innings in the circle.
 
The Gamecocks got on the board in the fourth, and inning that was started by a single from Beshears. The senior from Trussville, Ala., was moved to third before Anna Chisolm lifted a sacrifice fly to left that put the Gamecocks up 1-0. It was the first of three hits in the game for Beshears, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI in the win.
 
After three errors and UNC's first hit tied the game in the fifth with an unearned run, the two teams remained deadlocked until the eighth inning.
 
Beshears started the inning with a solo blast to right, starting a big inning that included a pinch-hit RBI single from Bailey Smart and a sac fly from Hayley Sims that handed Faith Sims a three-run lead.
 
She closed the door on the Bears in the home half of the eighth, capping an eight-inning complete game that saw her allow an unearned run on four hits and strike out four to improve to 7-0 on the season.
 
Reliever Valerie Vidal (4-12) suffered the loss for UNC, allowing three runs on six hits in 3 and 1/3 innings.
 
In the final game of the day, The Bulldogs (13-6) struck first in the second inning on an RBI single from Meredith Ferguson and a sac fly from Weslyn Almond that gave them a 2-0 lead.
 
JSU tied the game in the fifth, starting with a Chisolm sac fly that cut the deficit in half and finishing with an Alexus Jimmerson RBI double into the gap in right center.
 
The tie score held until the sixth, when Almond delivered a two-out RBI triple into the right field corner that drove the winning run in.
 
Brooke Perry (8-3) earned the win for the Bulldogs, limiting JSU to two runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. She struck out nine and walked a pair.
 
Senior Kirsten Titus started the game for JSU and gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits and two walks in three innings. She struck out one before making way for Nicole Rodriguez (2-3). The sophomore tossed the final four frames and allowed a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out four in the losing effort.
 
Freshman Savannah Sudduth led the Gamecocks at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a double, while Jimmerson notched two hits and drove in a run in three at bats.
 
JSU will wrap up play in the tournament hosted by Texas Tech on Saturday, starting with an 11 a.m. CT game vs. Northern Colorado. The Gamecocks will then face the host Red Raiders at 4 p.m.