
Bats Power Gamecocks Past West Georgia
2/24/2026 7:26:00 PM | Softball
The Gamecocks (12-5) had a 4-0 lead before making an out when Makalyn Kyser hit a grand slam to left, bringing home Emma Elrod who doubled, and Morgan Nowakowski and Kailey Martin which walked. Haleigh Cushingberry added a run on a fielder's choice to shortstop to bring home Aria Davis.
Elrod reached on an error in her second at bat of the inning which scored Cushingberry to make it 6-0. She had an RBI single in the third to make it 7-0.
That was plenty of help for senior pitcher Jaliyah Holmes, who improved to 5-2 with a complete game effort. On just 104 pitches, she struck out three, walked none, and did not give up an earned run.
Nowakowski led off the sixth with a homer to center field and Tea' Gutierrez made it back-to-back jacks with a pinch-hit homer to left for her first career home run.
West Georgia answered with two in the bottom half of the inning to keep the game going, but the Gamecocks responded with four in the seventh when Cushingberry scored on a wild pitch, Martin drove home Mikayla Deville with an RBI single up the middle, and Kyser doubled home Martin and Nowakowski.
Kyser finished 3-for-4 with six RBIs.
Jax State will head to the Ole Miss Classic this weekend where they will play UL Monroe and Ole Miss on Saturday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Holmes, Jaliyah (5-2)
L: A. Helms (1-2)

Batting:
2B: Elrod, Emma 1 ; Kyser, Makalyn 1
HR: Nowakowski, Morgan 1 ; Gutierrez, Teá 1 ; Kyser, Makalyn 1
RBI: Elrod, Emma 1 ; Nowakowski, Morgan 1 ; Martin, Kailey 1 ; Gutierrez, Teá 1 ; Kyser, Makalyn 6 ; Cushingberry, Haleigh 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elrod, Emma 1 ; Nowakowski, Morgan 3 ; Martin, Kailey 2 ; Gutierrez, Teá 1 ; Kyser, Makalyn 1 ; Davis, Aria 1 ; Cushingberry, Haleigh 2 ; Deville, Mikayla 2
SB: Underwood, Jaci 1 ; Cushingberry, Haleigh 1 ; Deville, Mikayla 1
CS: Garcia, Jocelyn 1 ; Cushingberry, Haleigh 1
HBP: Cushingberry, Haleigh 1

Batting:
2B: M. Humber 1
RBI: Z. Boyd 1 ; E. Oswalt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Z. Boyd 1 ; M. Coslor 1
SB: M. Coslor 1
HBP: V. Hardy 1



















