Jacksonville, Fla. – Head Coach
Julie Boland has her first win at the helm of Jax State softball following the Gamecocks' 3-1 victory at North Florida to cap the opening day of the 2025 season.
Facing a pair of familiar former ASUN Conference foes, Jax State (1-1) dropped the first game of the day to Jacksonville, 5-4, in extra innings, before bouncing back in the nightcap to defeat UNF.
The day started with sophomore
Emma Elrod's leadoff home run in her return to the lineup after an injury cut her freshman campaign short. The Gamecocks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in that opening inning after
Amber Reed singled up the middle and later scored on newcomer
Maddie Mayo's sacrifice fly to right field.
Mayo was joined by freshmen
Kailey Martin,
Aria Davis,
Jaci Underwood and
Haleigh Cushingberry making their Jax State debuts against the Dolphins. In the third inning, Mayo, Davis and Underwood each reached base with Underwood picking up her first RBI and Davis scoring on a wild pitch to make it a 4-1 advantage.
JU tacked on a run in the home half of the third and two more in the sixth to knot the contest late. Junior
Jaliyah Holmes finished her day from the circle with seven hits allowed over her six innings of work with four runs allowed.
Jordan Eslinger shut the door on the Dolphins in the seventh, but the extra-inning runner staged at second to start the eighth inning eventually found her way home for the winning run after a sac bunt to open the frame.
For game No. 2, Jax State turned to senior
Kat Carter who scattered five hits and allowed just one unearned run during her complete game effort from the circle.
The Gamecocks got on the board first in the third with Davis scoring from first with two-outs as the JU defense mishandled a
Morgan Nowakowski grounder up the middle. The Gamecocks proceeded to add a run apiece in the next two frames to build a 3-1 lead that would hold to the end. Junior catcher
Abbi Perkins, another welcomed return to the lineup after missing 2024, doubled home Cushingberry in the fourth, while Reed brought Elrod across the plate in the fifth on a single through the right side.
Reed, Elrod, Davis and
Megan Rasmussen each recorded multiple hits on opening day.
The same three teams will square off again on day two of the River City Leadoff at the UNF Softball Complex. Jax State faces JU at 11:30 a.m. ET/10:30 CT and UNF at 4:30 ET/3:30 CT. Live stats are available at JaxStateSports.com.
