RUSTON, La. –
Amber Reed finished the opener of a twinbill against Louisiana Tech 3-for-3 with four RBI's as Jax State defeated the Bulldogs 9-6 on Sunday morning.
Kat Carter tossed 6.2 scoreless innings in the second game before Louisiana Tech walked off the series finale in the seventh inning, 1-0.
The Gamecocks (24-16, 7-8 CUSA) were just a few plays shy of sweeping the doubleheader and taking home a series win over the Bulldogs (23-15, 9-6 CUSA).
For the second consecutive game, Jax State jumped ahead in the first inning of action. The Gamecocks rallied for five hits, including four singles and a double, to score two runs. Louisiana Tech wanted no time reclaiming the advantage, adding three runs of its own in the home frame.
After a scoreless second, the Gamecocks answered in the third when
Morgan Nowakowski singled home
Emma Elrod. The Bulldogs then took their second lead of the day in the bottom half of the inning with a two run double, making the score 5-3.
Jax State responded yet again in the fourth, this time with an RBI double courtesy of
Makalyn Kyser and a two-run single from Elrod. The Gamecocks took the 6-5 advantage into the final inning before picking up a trio of insurance runs in the seventh.
Elrod and Nowakowski each reached base to start off the inning before a double from Reed scored the pair.
Aria Davis doubled home Reed in the next plate appearance to give Jax State pitcher
Jordan Eslinger a 9-5 lead in the bottom of the inning.
Eslinger entered in relief of
Jaliyah Holmes in the fourth and threw three scoreless innings prior to the seventh. Louisiana Tech stole a run back from two Gamecock errors but Eslinger closed the game out with the tying run at the plate.
The Gamecock reliever allowed just three hits and no walks in 4.0 innings of action.
Kat Carter started game two for the Gamecocks, and despite the loss, turned in one of her best outings of the season. Carter allowed just one run, the winning run in the seventh.
After a 14-hit first game, baserunners were hard to come by for Jax State in the finale, only managing two hits, two walks and one hit batter.
Haleigh Cushingberry reached twice in the second game, tallying a single and a walk.
In a scoreless game,
Megan Rasmussen pinch hit for the Gamecocks in the seventh inning and singled back up the middle, but Jax State couldn't score the runner.
Carter struck out four batters in her dominant outing and finishes the contest with 299 career punchouts.
The Gamecocks return to Jacksonville for a midweek contest against Georgia Tech at Jana McGinnis Field on Tuesday, April 8.
Admission to all Jax State Softball games is free courtesy of Martin's Family Clothing.
