HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Jax State split a pair of Saturday contests with Sam Houston after the weekend's Friday opener was pushed back a day due to excessive rain setting up the twinbill action.
 
The Gamecocks (23-28, 12-11 CUSA) missed early opportunities to pad the lead in the opener before falling 3-1, but turned around to finish strong in the finale with a 5-3 victory on the road.
 
Junior Hannah Buffington and sophomore Ashley Phillips' back-to-back homers in the fourth inning of Saturday's second contest highlighted Jax State's bounce back efforts to grab its 12th Conference USA win of the season. With weather still in the area, Sunday's regular-season finale scheduled for 12:30 is in jeopardy of not getting played.
 
As far as postseason seeding is concerned, Jax State currently sits fifth with the only possibility to move being one more win and a New Mexico State loss on the final day of the season to slide to the fourth seed. The No. 5 and No. 4 seeds open tournament play against one another in the six-team tournament.
 
Junior Kat Carter was saddled for the loss in her start Saturday despite a strong six innings to start the day. She maintained Jax State's 1-0 margin until three hits to begin the SHSU sixth opened the door for a three-run frame that was aided by an error.
 
The scoring lull carried over to begin the second game for the Gamecocks, even with a heavy shakeup of the batting lineup. The Bearkats struck fast with a run in the first off sophomore Jaliyah Holmes, but proceeded to go quietly the next four frames as Holmes locked in.
 
SHSU's 1-0 advantage held until the top of the third when Emma Jones-Hubbard scored on a Morgan Nowakowski single after stealing her 25th base of the season. The following inning, Buffington launched her first home run since going deep in the 2023 season-opener versus Buffalo. The Fort Payne, Ala., native's fifth career roundtripper gave the Gamecocks a lead they wouldn't relinquish. One batter later, Phillips cleared the fence as well for the 10th time this season making it a 3-1 game.
 
Freshman Megan Rasmussen drove in Jones-Hubbard the following inning with a single up the middle, but that play wouldn't be as crucial as her defensive catch in the bottom of the frame that saved a bases-clearing hit and retained a two-run advantage for the Gamecocks.
 
The Bearkats sent a solo shot of their own out of the park in the seventh, but Holmes and the Gamecocks still closed out the 5-3 victory after senior Caroline Lively provided an insurance RBI in the top of the inning with her infield single that allowed Nowakowski to cross the plate.
 
Sunday's 12:30 regular-season finale is set to take place at the Bearkat Softball Complex as scheduled. Any further updates will be made available on social media and JaxStateSports.com.