COLUMBIA, S.C. – Jax State went 0-2 on the opening day of the 2024 season, but the Gamecocks showed their grit battling to the end against two Power Five foes.
At the Carolina Classic in Columbia, S.C., Jax State opened the day and the season falling to the Virginia Cavaliers, 7-3, and then went extra innings with tournament host and No. 23 South Carolina, before a 4-3 decision.
Despite the results, plenty of bright spots showed through the day. True freshman
Amber Reed took the circle for her collegiate debut in the nightcap against the ranked Gamecocks. The Suwanee, Ga., native, retired the first 10 batters she saw before allowing a solo shot in the fourth. Still, Jax State led 3-1 in the fifth, thanks in part to Reed's own RBI infield single in the first, when USC finally struck for more than just one big swing.
A walk and single allowed South Carolina to get traffic on the bases and after a stolen base moved runners to second and third, a single to center knotted the game back even at 3-3. An impressive debut finished with 4.2 innings pitched and three hits allow.
Senior
Emma Jones scored all three of Jax State's runs in the nightcap, taking the lead on a single by Reed, scurrying home on a dropped pop-up to the pitcher in the third and coming in on a
Morgan Nowakowski double in the fifth. Earlier in the day, Jones drove in two of Jax State's three runs against Virginia on a deep single to center.
Sophomore
Jaliyah Holmes closed the final 2.1 innings behind Reed. She was saddled with the loss when South Carolina connected on back-to-back hits in the eighth inning to walk it off. After USC tied the game at 3-3 in the home half of the fifth, Jax State's best chance at regaining the lead came in the seventh when
Kenzie Nicholson and Nowakowski started the frame with consecutive singles. But a double play ball stymied the momentum and a flyout to left stranded Nicholson at third.
Nicholson, a sophomore transfer from Arizona State, had a solid opening day that included a 2-for-4 game and a run scored versus UVA to start the day.
In that first contest, the Atlantic Coast Conference's Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead in the first two innings off junior starter
Kat Carter. Carter settled in to go 4.1 innings allowing five hits. Jax State pulled within one when Nicholson stole third and scored on a throwing error in the third. In the fifth, Jones' big hit scored
Hannah Buffington and
Emma Elrod to push the Gamecocks in front, 5-3.
Carter was relieved in the fifth when UVA got runners on the corners with one out.
Jordan Eslinger came in to try and get out of a jam, but the Cavaliers broke free for a game-separating five-run inning to go back ahead. Two runs would count on Carter's final line.
As she would do later against South Carolina, Holmes made her season debut finishing the game where she kept the margin at 7-3 the rest of the way.
After falling in extra innings Friday night, Jax State will get another shot at South Carolina on Saturday as well as an early afternoon game against UNC-Greensboro. Live stats are available for both matchups, while a video stream will also take place for the USC game.
