DeLand, Fla. – A breakaway six-run, sixth-inning fueled by redshirt-freshman Morgan Nowakowski's first grand slam powered Jax State to a 10-4 win over Austin Peay in its opening game of the 2023 ASUN softball championship.
 
Eight Gamecock batters combined to pound out 13 total hits in the runaway victory, despite a neck-and-neck contest through five innings. JSU (31-20) now advances to meet second-seeded Liberty (37-18) on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. ET. As a result of the top two seeds earning double byes, the Flames will be playing their first game of the tournament. JSU and Liberty did not meet during the regular season and have met once before in a 5-0 JSU win in 2016 at Louisiana Tech's tournament.
 
Early Tuesday, in a game moved forward five hours to avoid potential weather in the area, the Governors (27-23) struck first with a run in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly. Another deep shot to center with a runner on almost made it a 3-0 lead, until senior Lauren Hunt timed her jump at the wall perfectly to end the inning with a robbed home run.
 
The Gamecocks battled back in the home half to load the bases with freshman Linley Tubbs at the plate. Following a pair of hit batters, Tubbs allowed the court to run to 3-0 where an ensuing illegal pitch call resulted in the fourth ball to send the tying run home.
 
Still even in the third, APSU got the first two batters aboard to apply pressure to JSU's freshman starter Jaliyah Holmes. The Govs would bring one run home to retake the lead, 2-1, but Holmes forced a foul pop-up to Abbi Perkins behind the plate and a fly-out to Hunt in center to escape a bases-loaded jam.
 
The Govs held the lead until the bottom of the fourth when JSU's bottom of the order came up big with a walk from Perkins and single by Sidney Wagnon to place the tying run in scoring position. As the lineup turned over to Emma Jones, the Anniston, Ala., native roped a ball to the gap to extend her hitting streak to a season-best nine games and score Perkins from second. Wagnon eventually crossed the plate when ASUN first-team slugger Lindsey Richardson drew a bases-loaded walk. The scoring was capped with a short fly-out by Brantly Bonds just beyond second, but deep enough for the speedy Jones to tag and make it home safely.
 
The battle wasn't over yet as APSU quickly answered with a pair of runs to begin the fifth to tie the game for the third time. Sophomore Sarah Currie took over the circle for JSU once the Gamecocks made their way back in front, but an error in the field opened the door for APSU's two runs. Following JSU's big sixth inning, Currie collected her eighth win of the season allowing just one hit down the stretch in the final two frames to shut the door on the Governors.
 
Hard to image an inning later, but Jax State was still scraping for any run to break the deadlock with APSU entering the sixth. Jones beat out a grounded to second with a head-first slide to start what became the game-changing moment of the morning. Jones would score the go-ahead run on a single to left by Richardson, but the real damage would come one batter later. Still without any outs, Nowakowski stepped in just hoping to pad JSU's lead, which she did by lifting only her third homer of the season over the wall in right for a grand slam. Almost forgotten, Tubbs followed with a solo shot of her own bringing to score to its final 10-4 decision.
 
APSU remains alive in the double-elimination postseason falling into the lower bracket where they await a to-be-determined next opponent. The Gamecocks meanwhile set their sites on Liberty for the first time this season. The winner of Thursday's JSU/Liberty contest advanced to the finals of the winner's bracket to face either top-seeded Central Arkansas or the winner of North Alabama/Florida Gulf Coast.
 
JSU has now beaten Austin Peay at some point in four of its last five conference tournaments including the 2018, 2019 and 2021 Ohio Valley Conference tournaments.