LUBBOCK, Texas – Taylor Beshears tied a school record with three home runs in the first game and No. 14 Texas Tech rallied in the second game in a split for the Jacksonville State softball team on the final day of the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic on Sunday.
 
Beshears went 4-for-4 with three home runs and six RBI in a 12-6 win over Northern Colorado, tying Melinda McDonald's school record of three homers in a game set against St. Bonaventure on March 12, 2004. The Gamecocks (11-6) day ended with an 11-3 loss to the Red Raiders (22-1).
 
In the opener, Beshears led the 15-hit attack for the Gamecocks with her 4-4, three-home run and six-RBI effort, while Karsen Mosley was 3-for-4 in front of her in the lineup. Alexus Jimmerson drove in three and went 2-for-4 from the No. 4 spot in the order, giving JSU a combined 9-for-12 from the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots in the order. Anna Chisolm had the other of JSU's five homers in the game.
 
The opener was back-and-forth from the start, with Northern Colorado scoring a run in the top of the first and JSU answering with three in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff walk set up the Bears run, while singles from Mosley and Beshears set up a three-run homer from Jimmerson that grabbed a 3-1 lead for the Gamecocks. 
 
The Bears answered in the third with four runs on five hits to reclaim the lead at 5-3, but JSU had an answer again.
 
Beshears belted the first pitch of the bottom of the frame over the wall in left center to cut the deficit to one. Jimmerson singled and Lex Hull doubled to follow, setting up an Anna Chisolm sac fly and a Hayley Sims RBI single that made it a 6-5 JSU lead.
 
JSU added to the lead in the fourth, thanks to more long balls. Beshears followed a leadoff single from Mosley with her second homer of the game, a two-run shot to center that gave JSU an 8-5 advantage. Two batters later, Chisolm got in on the fun with JSU's fourth homer of the game, a solo shot to right that made it 9-5.
 
After a hit by pitch gave the Bears a run in the top of the fifth, Beshears delivered the final blow in the home half, when she deposited her third home run of the game – a three run blast – over the wall in center to put the Gamecocks up 12-6.
 
Jimmerson (1-1) also earned the win in the circle, allowing just one run on three hits and 4 and 1/3 innings of relief work. She struck out four and walked two in the win. Freshman Macy Bearden started the game and made it 2 and 2/3 frames, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks.
 
Valerie Vidal (4-13) suffered the loss for the Bears, allowing eight runs on 11 hits in four innings of work. Maggie Thurston pitched the final two innings and allowed four runs on four hits. Mady Young led the UNC offense with three RBI.
 
In the final game of the day, the Gamecocks jumped on the No. 14 Red Raiders but couldn't hang on. They scored three in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead, starting the inning with a two-run double by Amber Jones and finishing the scoring on a bases loaded walk by Hannahstaysia Weaver. 
 
Texas Tech answered in the home half of the second, getting three run-scoring singles to tie the game and stop JSU's momentum. The Red Raiders opened it up in the fourth, scoring four on an RBI triple from Karli Hamilton and a three-run homer from Trenity Edwards. 
 
TTU ended the game in the sixth with four more runs that made it an 11-3 lead. The inning that was sparked by a leadoff homer by Hamilton was capped by a two-run double from Kelcy Leach.
 
Faith Sims (7-1) suffered her first loss of the season, giving up seven runs on eight hits and three walks in four innings in the circle. Nicole Rodriguez tossed the final 1 and 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on three hits and two walks.
 
Erin Edmundson (12-1) went the distance for TTU, allowing three runs on six hits in six innings of work. She struck out four and walked two.