JACKSONVILLE – Jax State earned a pair of victories in Friday's action during the Cocky Classic taking place at Jana McGinnis Field this weekend.
 
The Gamecocks (4-9) took varying paths to each win, outlasting Southern Miss, 9-7, in an offensive showdown, before scraping out a 3-1 decision over Samford in a game where runs came at a premium.
 
Fans of scoring enjoyed the opened act of the day between Jax State and USM where runs were scored in all seven frames. The Gamecocks stacked up 14 hits, including two by sophomore Ashley Phillips as part of a 2-for-3 day in just her second game back from injury.
 
Following an Emma Jones triple to open the game it didn't take long for Jax State to hang the first runs on the board when senior Lindsey Richardson belted her third home run of the season to make it a 2-0 game. For the first time this season, Jax State strung together back-to-back homers when Phillips went deep in only her fourth at-bat of the season.
 
The Sun Belt Conference foes from Hattiesburg, Miss., seemingly never went away after the Gamecocks delivered bog innings. USM scratched across a pair of runs in the top of the second to answer Richardson's blast. When Makalyn Kyser scored Amber Reed on her first two-out double of the day, the Golden Eagles again responded with a solo home run on the first pitch of the following inning.
 
USM took a 6-5 lead after piecing together its third two-run inning in the top of the sixth. That led to the Gamecocks being the ones to respond with back-to-back doubles from Jones and Emma Elrod to even the score. From there, Morgan Nowakowski singled to second and Phillips drew a walk to load the bases with two outs for Kyser. The sophomore from Springville, Ala., came through with perhaps the biggest hit of her young career roping a shot to the right-center gap which cleared the bases.
 
Southern Miss did tack on another run in the top of the seventh and got the tying run to the plate, but freshman MacKinley Portillo closed the door and ultimately picked up the win to improve her record to 2-1 after she entered in relief of Reed in the sixth. Kart Carter started the game and went three-plus innings.
 
In the nightcap, an RBI double for Samford in the third looked like it might be enough for a white as the Gamecocks struggled to bring baserunners home. Jax State stranded nine on base against the Bulldogs, but finally touched home went Kenzie Nicholson took off from second and scored on an infield error as the shortstop bobbled a grounder and elected to try and throw out Nicholson at the plate.
 
Defensively, Jax State settled into a groove despite Samford's lone run. Junior Sarah Currie shined in a complete game effort where she matched her career high with nine strikeouts. Once Nicholson tied the game in the fifth, Currie seemed poised to go as long as needed until the Gamecocks could take the lead. That came in the home half of the sixth when Elrod singled back up the middle to score Hannah Buffington and Ella Pate.
 
Jax State returns to the field early Saturday for a 10 a.m. contest against Southern Indiana. It will be the only Jax State game on Saturday's slate, however, three more games with USI, Samford and Belmont will take place throughout the day at Jana McGinnis Field.