JACKSONVILLE – Four home runs led the Jacksonville State softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Murray State on Friday at University Field.
 
Karsen Mosley hit two round-trippers, and Jada Terry and Alexis Jimmerson each blasted home runs as the Gamecocks (10-16, 9-7 OVC) took the first game 9-1 and the second game 8-0 – neither making it past the fifth inning.
 
Reagan Watkins earned her third win of the season with a one-hitter in the first contest. The senior struck out eight and faced just 16 batters in the near-shutout. The lone run the Racers (14-18, 11-5 OVC) plated Saturday was a fourth-inning home run off the bat of Lily Fischer.
 
Terry's three-run homer in the first innings gave Jax State an early lead. The senior lifted a no-doubter to left, scoring Shelby Newsome and Savannah Sudduth. It was her team-leading sixth home run of the season and the 10th of her career.
 
The Gamecocks tacked on three more runs in a miscue-riddled second inning. A throwing error allowed Keeli Bobbitt and Caroline Lively to score following a Newsome flyout, and Sudduth crossed the plate moments later courtesy of a wild pitch, pushing JSU's lead to 6-0.
 
Murray State got one run back in the fourth with Fischer's solo home run, but three Jacksonville State runs in the bottom of the fifth ended the game early. Alex Howard's second pinch hit plated Mosely, and Lindsey Richardson's first RBI of the season came on a groundout to second that scored Megan Fortner.
 
Leading 8-1 with one out, Sudduth hit a high chopper to second base. MSU's Lindsey Carroll fielded and had to rush to beat the speedy leadoff hitter, but the throw went wide and pinch runner Ellie Largen scored from third, sealing the victory in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Nicole Rodriguez pitched a two-hit shutout, struck out seven and had the backing of three home runs in the game-two win.
 
A three-run second inning gave Rodriguez the foundation of her team-best fifth win of the year. Mosely crushed the first of her two dingers on an 0-1 pitch to lead off the frame, and Fortner later took advantage of a passed ball. Newsome's second of three hits on the afternoon two batters later scored Bobbitt from third.
 
Already leading 3-0, Alexis Jimmerson made it a four-run game with her second homer of the season. The leadoff shot in the bottom of the third was her second of the season, 12th of her career and opened the door for two more JSU runs to score. Following a Fortner double and base hit by Chaney Phillips, a single off the bat of Bobbitt drove in the fifth and sixth runs of the contest. Phillips scored from third and Fortner scored from second on a throwing error.
 
Mosley's second home run – a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth inning – moved Jacksonville State into an 8-0 lead and made the third baseman JSU's active career leader in homers with 13. Rodriguez then retired the Racers in order in the top of the fifth to close out the twinbill.
 
Fortner ended the afternoon with four hits against the Racer pitching staff, while Newsome, Mosley and Sudduth each tallied three hits in the pair of games. Mosley and Terry each drove in three runs, as well, while Mosley totaled a whopping nine bases and posted a 1.800 slugging percentage.
 
Murray State managed just two hits and struck out 15 times in 10 innings against the senior arms of Watkins and Rodriguez.
 
The two teams wrap up the three-game series Saturday at University Field. First pitch of the contest is set for 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN+.