NASHVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team capped a week that saw them play six games in the state of Tennessee on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of Tennessee State.
 
The Gamecocks (28-12, 12-4 Ohio Valley Conference) rolled to an 8-0 mercy-rule win in the opener before hanging on for a 4-0 win in the nightcap against the homestanding Tigers (10-24, 3-13 OVC). 
 
In the circle, Faith Sims earned the complete-game win in the opener before closing the door and earning the save in the final game of the day. At the plate, five different JSU players drove in at least one run in the first game before freshman Anna Hood delivered the big blow in the finale with a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh that proved to be the difference.
 
That blow came with JSU leading just 2-0 with two outs in the top of the seventh and just after a lengthy lightning delay had the teams wait around an hour to finish the game. She native of Locust Fork, Ala., fouled off five-straight Raven Loveless pitches before belting a 3-2 pitch over the center field wall to make it a 4-0 game.
 
TSU scored twice in the home half of the seventh and then brought the tying run to the plate before Sims was able to finish her two-inning save by inducing a ground out.
 
Sims, a native of Cordova, Ala., recorded five outs in her fourth save of the season, allowing two runs on two hits. She relieved starter Nicole Rodriguez (7-4), who held TSU scoreless on five hits in 5 and 1/3 innings. She struck out five in the winning effort.
 
Loveless (8-11) suffered the loss for TSU, allowing four runs on six hits in seven innings of work. She walked one and struck out four.
 
The first two runs she allowed came in the third, when freshman Karsen Mosley's two-run triple scored Sidney Wagnon and pinch runner Hannah Brown to break a scoreless tie.
 
In the opener, JSU scored early and often, scoring in every innings after a scoreless first. The first two runs came in the second on Wagnon's two-run single, and then a four-run third broke the game open. Amber Jones singled in the first in that inning, followed by an Anna Chisolm RBI and a two-run double from Hayley Sims that made it a 6-0 game.
 
Taylor Beshears doubled in a run in the fourth, and Chisolm scored on a passed ball in the fifth that put the mercy rule into effect.
 
Faith Sims (17-4) tossed a two-hit shutout in the five-inning game, striking out eight. She beat Jessina Espinoza (1-5), who allowed two runs on three hits in 2 and 1/3 innings.
 
The Gamecocks return home on Friday, when they host first-place Murray State in a doubleheader at University Field that will start at 1 p.m. JSU will enter the twinbill trailing the Racers by two games in the league standings. JSU students and fans ages 18 and under will receive free admission, and tickets can be purchased online at www.JSUGamecockSports.com/Tickets.