HATTIESBURG, Miss. – A pair of late rallies and strong pitching performances lifted the Jacksonville State softball team to a pair of wins on Friday at the Southern Miss Golden Eagle Invitational.
The Gamecocks (5-2) used a six-run sixth inning to open the day with a 7-3 win over Houston Baptist and then scored two late runs to upend the host Golden Eagles, 2-1. The wins extends the JSU's win streak to five games.
Senior
Lexi Androlevich tossed the Gamecocks to the win over HBU, allowing just three unearned runs in her complete game. Freshman
Kat Carter limited the Golden Eagles to a run on five hits, also throwing a complete game.
In the opening game vs. Houston Baptist, the Huskies scored a run in the first and held that 1-0 lead until the Gamecocks erupted for a seven-run sixth inning that put them in control. JSU sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning and scored seven runs on four hits and four HBU errors.
The big blow in the inning came off of the bat of
Megan Fortner, whose grand slam with one out in the inning put JSU on the board.
Abbi Perkins followed with an RBI single that scored
Lauren Hunt from second and made it a 5-1 JSU lead. Back-to-back HBU errors put two more runs on the board and gave the Gamecocks a 7-1 lead.
The Huskies scored two in the seventh to cut into the lead, but
Lexi Androlevich (2-1) held on for the win in the circle. The senior didn't allow an earned run on seven hits in seven innings of work, while striking out seven and walking two.
Madison Cotton (0-1) suffered the loss for HBU after allowing six runs on seven hits in 5 and 2/3 innings. Sarah Venker pitched the final 1 and 1/3 innings, allowing an unearned run on two walks.
Perkins,
Lindsey Richardson and
Brantly Bonds each recorded two hits in the game, while Fortner and Perkins had the game's only RBI.
Against Southern Miss, Carter kept the Golden Eagle bats at bay until the JSU offense could break through. She allowed a fourth-inning homer by Hannah Borden but nothing else before JSU scored a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to win the game.
Fortner tied the game for JSU in the sixth with her RBI single to center, scoring
Savannah Sudduth. Bonds delivered the game winner in the seventh with a two-out double to right center that plated Perkins after her leadoff single started the inning.
Carter (2-1) struck out three and walked a pair in her second-straight win. Morgan Leinstock started the game for USM and went the first six innings, allowing a run on six hits. Jana Lee entered the game in the seventh and suffered the loss after giving up the winning run on two hits.
Richardson and Fortner each had two hits in the win.
JSU will wrap up the weekend on Saturday, when they play a pair of games against ULM. The first one will begin at 5 p.m. CT.
