MOBILE, Ala. — Jax State softball continues its non-conference slate on the road for another five games, this time traveling to Mobile for the South Alabama Invitational.
The Gamecocks will start off the weekend against UAB and Western Michigan on Friday, then take on UAB once more, followed by South Alabama on Saturday. Lastly, Jax State will wrap up the stretch against Western Michigan on Sunday.
Jax State turned a 3-2 record in its opening weekend at the Louisiana Classic. The Gamecocks picked up a win against Tulsa in 10 innings in the first game of the season, along with picking up back-to-back wins over North Texas and Louisiana on Saturday afternoon.
Kailey Martin kicked off her sophomore campaign with multiple impressive outings last weekend. Martin went 7-for-18 (.389) at the plate and picked up a team-leading eight RBIs, including her first home run of the season throughout the five-game stretch.
Opening weekend was successful for multiple other Jax State batters as well, including
Emma Elrod,
Morgan Nowakowski and
Maddie Mayo.
Elrod also tallied seven hits during the weekend, including a pair of doubles. Nowakowski got her season started by picking up five hits, including three doubles and ended up scoring seven times throughout the weekend. Mayo recorded an RBI double in each of the first three games of the year, along with a home run against Louisiana in game four to bring her RBI total to six on the season.
In the circle,
Jaliyah Holmes picked up two wins last week in four appearances, in which she allowed a .209 batting average against 43 at bats throughout the weekend.
Makenna Moore was responsible for the other victory, throwing a complete game against Louisiana last Saturday, where she picked up seven strikeouts in the winning effort. Moore now leads the team in strikeouts with 10 and has only allowed a .190 batting average against 42 at-bats.
UAB comes into this weekend with a 2-3 record after defeating Southeast Missouri State and Lipscomb at the Southern Miss tournament last weekend. The Blazers are led by pitcher Olivia Cummings who pitched complete games in UAB's two wins, picking up eight strikeouts and allowing just seven hits in 13.0 innings pitched.
Western Michigan enters the South Alabama Invitational with a perfect 4-0 record this season after taking down Dayton, Morehead State, Presbyterian and Le Moyne at the Blue Hose Invitational last week. The Broncos are led by Bella Duncan at the plate, as the freshman utility player boasts a .462 average after picking up a double, two triples, a home run and a combined eight RBIs throughout her first four collegiate games.
The hosting Jaguars are currently holding a 4-1 record coming into the weekend after defeating Eastern Kentucky, Southeastern Louisiana, North Carolina Central and Missouri in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. Ryley Harrison has been the ace in the circle for South Alabama so far this season, boasting a 1.19 ERA in four appearances so far. Johnson has tallied 14 strikeouts and allowed just three earned runs through 17.2 innings pitched so far.
The Gamecocks will get to play their first home game following this weekend, taking on the Chattanooga Mocs on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at Jana McGinnis Field at 5 p.m.
