JACKSONVILLE—Senior pitcher Jaliyah Holmes allowed just six baserunners over seven innings of work with seven strikeouts to help Jax State blank DePaul in their first game of the Jax State Tournament presented by Chick-fil-a.
 
At the plate, the Gamecocks drew 13 walks and recorded seven of their nine hits on the day with runners on base.
 
Ashley Phillips brought home the first run of the game with a two-out RBI single down the left field line to score Morgan Nowakowski. Jaci Underwood brought home two more with a single up the middle. A bases-loaded walk to Mikayla Deville made it 4-0 heading to the fourth.
 
Nowakowski was 2-for-2, drew three walks, and scored three runs.
 
Phillips brought home Nowakowski again in the fourth with a sacrifice fly, then Aria Davis brought home Jocelyn Garcia with a one-out single up the middle. Phillips finished 2-for-2 with a walk.
 
Davis walked with the bases loaded in the fifth for the final run. The Gamecocks threatened to end the game early with the bases loaded in the sixth, but a pair of infield popouts ended the scoring opportunity.
 
Davis was 2-for-3 on the day.
 
Holmes retired six in a row until a double with two outs gave the Blue Demons their first baserunner since the fifth inning, but a strikeout to the next batter ended the game.
 
On Saturday, the Gamecocks will face Gardner-Webb at 3 p.m. followed by a game at 5:30 with DePaul. Gardner-Webb will face Northwestern State at 10 a.m. followed by DePaul and Northwestern State at 12:30.