STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Jacksonville State softball team rolled to a 13-1 win over Alcorn State and then dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Mississippi State on Saturday at the MSU Bulldog Invitational at Nusz Park.
The Gamecocks (9-8) used a 10-run fourth inning to blast Alcorn State (7-11) in the early game on Saturday's tournament schedule before falling to the host Bulldogs (13-7) on a Paige Cook walk-off home run.
The opener was all Gamecocks at the plate and in the circle. Freshman
Sarah Currie held the Braves' offense in check for the second day in a row. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native tossed her second complete game of the weekend against ASU on Saturday, limiting its offense to a run on just four hits in five innings in the circle. She struck out four and walked just one.
While Currie (3-1) was keeping the ASU bats quiet, the JSU bats were producing. A third-inning sac fly from
Megan Fortner scored
Holly Stewart to break a scoreless tie, and then the flood gates opened in the fourth.
The 10-run frame saw 15 Gamecock batters come to the plate, eight hits and two Alcorn State errors.
Hannah Buffington started the inning with a leadoff walk and scored on
Camryn McLemore's double into left field to make it a 2-0 game.
Savannah Sudduth later singled in McLemore and then later drew an errant throw on her steal of second to allow
Lauren Hunt to score. A
Brantly Bonds RBI single set up a three-run homer from
Addie Robinson that put an 8-0 JSU lead on the scoreboard.
McLemore also homered in the inning, a solo shot that made it a 9-0 score, before
Holly Stewart's RBI double capped the scoring in the frame and staked Currie to an 11-0 lead.
After
Lindsey Richardson's two-run homer in the top of the fifth made it a 13-0 game, ASU managed to plate one in the home half of the inning before the game ended via the mercy rule.
Lexi Veamoi (1-3) suffered the loss after surrendering six runs on six hits in 3 and 1/3 innings, while Ta'Niyah Fletcher allowed five runs on five hits after recording just one out. A'Mya Stevens gave up the other two runs and three hits in 1 and 1/3 innings in the circle.
The second game of the day saw the Gamecocks take Mississippi State to the wire before falling on the final swing of the game.
The Bulldogs scored the first run of the game in the second, on a dropped fly ball to right that was originally scored a three-base error before later being changed to a triple. The pop up came off the bat of Chloe Malau'ulu, who later scored on a single up the middle by Cook.
The Gamecocks tied the game at 1-1 in the third, when Bonds was hit by a pitch with two outs and then scored on a Fortner double into the left center field gap. MSU scored again in the fourth on a Matalasi Faapito solo homer and held that 2-1 lead until JSU's half of the seventh.
With
Lauren Hunt standing at first with one out,
Karsen Mosley doubled to the wall in right center, putting runners at second and third. After a
Chaney Phillips strikeout,
Keeli Bobbitt put the ball in play and third baseman Cook booted it to allow the tying run to score.
Cook redeemed herself in the home half, delivering
Kat Carter's first pitch of the seventh inning over the wall in left center to win it.
Carter (4-4) was stellar in the circle for JSU, limiting the Bulldogs to three runs on five hits in six innings of work. She struck out a pair and walked just one.
Annie Willis started the game for the Bulldogs and pitched the first 6 and 1/3 innings. She gave up two runs on two hits and struck out nine before Kenley Hawk (5-1) entered to throw the final two outs and earn the win in relief.
The Gamecocks will conclude the Bulldog Invitational on Sunday at 11 a,m, against Furman.
