BIRMINGHAM – The Jacksonville State softball team dropped a one-run game to Southeastern Louisiana and fell late to No. 9 Louisiana on Saturday at the UAB Green & Gold Tournament.
A walk-off home run in the seventh from Southeastern Louisiana's Briahna Bennett handed the Gamecocks a 2-1 defeat in their first game of the day. In the nightcap, the Ragin' Cajuns scored six runs over the final two innings to pull away for the 8-2 win.
The Gamecocks missed on opportunities in the first game of the day against the Lions, stranding 11 baserunners, including three in the third inning. JSU had at least one hit in every inning but the fifth.
The third inning started with a two-out, solo homer from
Megan Fortner that put the first run of the game on the board. Her second blast of the season cleared the wall in left and put JSU up 1-0.
Lexi Androlevich held the Lions off the board for the first five innings, but a Cameron Goodman RBI single in the sixth tied the game.
The Gamecocks got a leadoff single from
Savannah Sudduth in the seventh, and a one-out walk to
Keeli Bobbitt pushed her into scoring position. They couldn't get the run across, setting up SLU's game winner in the home half.
Androlevich started and went 5 and 1/3 innings in the circle, holding the Lions to a run on six hits. She struck out four and walked six before
Hannah Brown came on in relief in the sixth. Brown (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing a run on one hit in one inning of work.
Heather Zumo (3-0) went the distance for Southeastern Louisiana, allowing a run on nine hits and a pair of walks in her seven frames of action. She struck out five in the win.
In the second game, ninth-ranked Louisiana scored a run in each of the first two innings before JSU starter
Reagan Watkins settled in and kept the Ragin' Cajuns off the board for the next three frames.
Watkins helped her cause at the plate in the fourth, when her two-out single drove in
Shelby Newsome and cut the Ragin' Cajuns lead in half.
A two-run sixth made it a 4-1 game before
Jada Terry's RBI grounder in the sixth drove in Fortner and pulled the Gamecocks within two at 4-2.
Louisiana pulled away in the seventh, thanks to a two-run homer from Taylor Roman and a two-run single from Alissa Dalton that put the final 8-2 score on the board.
Watkins (0-1) suffered the loss in the circle after allowing six runs on 12 its in 6 and 1/3 innings of work. She struck out four and walked four.
Nicole Rodriguez recorded the final two outs for JSU, surrendering two runs on a hit and two walks.
Kandra Lamb (1-0) earned the win after holding JSU to a run on two hits in 4 and 2/3 innings that also saw her walk three and strike out three. Casey Dixon allowed JSU's other run in her one inning of relief work.
JSU will wrap up its weekend in the Magic City on Sunday with a 12 pm doubleheader at Samford. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
