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Box Score 2 NASHVILLE – The Jacksonville State softball team claimed the series win over Belmont on Sunday with a doubleheader split at Rose Park.
The Bruins (4-7, 1-2 Ohio Valley Conference) rallied for a 5-4 win in the first game of the day, but the Gamecocks (3-8, 2-1 OVC) held on for a 5-2 win in the finale. JSU won the series opener on Saturday.
Belmont took an early lead in the second game with a second-inning run on Cheyenne Cavanaugh's sac fly, but a three-run fourth and a two-run fifth for JSU put the Gamecocks in front.
That fourth inning saw three-straight RBI singles by the Gamecocks.
Megan Fortner,
Sidney Wagnon and
Lauren Hunt each drove in runs on singles to give JSU its first lead of the game at 3-1.
Alexus Jimmerson doubled in
Shelby Newsome to start the scoring in the fifth, and
Karsen Mosley delivered a sac fly that made it a 5-1 JSU advantage.
Veltri took a run off of the Bruins' deficit in the home half of the fifth with a sac fly, but they wouldn't get anything else.
Jimmerson (1-2) earned the win after tossing the first four innings and limiting the Bruins to two runs on five hits. She walked two and struck out six before making way for
Reagan Watkins, who earned the three-inning save. Watkins tossed three innings of one-hit softball in relief for her first save of the season.
Veltri (2-4) suffered the loss for Belmont after surrendering three runs on five hits in four innings of work. Kailey Brown pitched the final three innings, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks.
In the first game of the day, the Gamecocks fell to a late Belmont rally in the seventh. JSU took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh, but a three-run frame that was capped by a two-run, game-winning double by Abi Ledbetter.
The scoring started in the third, when the two teams exchanged runs. JSU got a sac fly from
Shelby Newsome that made it a 1-0 game, and Alicia Veltri's RBI double in the home half of the third tied it.
The Gamecocks reclaimed the lead in the sixth, when a
Jada Terry homer and an RBI single by
Caroline Lively put the 3-1 advantage on the board. In the bottom of the seventh, MyKayla Spurlin drew a bases loaded hit by pitch to cut the Bruins' deficit to one and set the stage for Ledbetter's game winning hit.
Nicole Rodriguez (1-1) suffered the loss for the Gamecocks, despite striking out eight. She allowed four runs on five hits in 6 ad 2/3 innings or work. Autumn McDaniel (2-1) earned the win in relief for Belmont, tossing three innings and allowing two runs on four hits. Alex Clesi started the game and pitched the first four innings, giving up two runs on four hits.
