WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 8, @Alabama A&M 0 (5)
@SIUE 7, Kansas 1
@Belmont 5, Memphis 4 (11)
@Tennessee State 7, Middle Tennessee 4
@Austin Peay 5, Samford 2
@Austin Peay 10, Samford 7
JACKSONVILLE STATE 8, ALABAMA A&M 0
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Alexus Jimmerson drove in four runs and Anna Chisolm scored four in an 8-0 mercy-rule win for the Jacksonville State softball team over Alabama A&M on Wednesday afternoon.
Chisolm was 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, three RBI and a stolen base to go along with her four runs that were all generated in some way by her speed. Jimmerson was 1-for-3 with a sac fly at the plate but put at least one on the board in three of her four plate appearances.
The Gamecocks (18-8) ended their final nonconference tune up before opening Ohio Valley Conference play this weekend with home doubleheaders against UT Martin and Southeast Missouri. The Bulldogs (8-19) couldn't get any offense going against the JSU pitching staff and saw costly errors allow six unearned runs score during the game.
The Gamecocks got an early run after some heads up baserunning from Chisolm in the first. After a leadoff walk, she took an extra base on an infield single by Cadi Oliver, when no one was covering third. The extra bag allowed her to score on Jimmerson's sac fly to center and give JSU a 1-0 lead.
JSU plated two runs in the second after a pair of AAMU errors. The first allowed Taylor Rogers to reach and advance to second. The second came after Chisolm's infield RBI single forced an errant throw to center and put the speedster on third. Oliver's line drive single to right scored her and gave JSU a three-run lead.
Errors bit the Bulldogs again in the third, when a dropped pop up that would have ended the frame resulted in four more runs. The first two came on Chisolm's two-run double to right center and the others on Jimmerson's rope single to right.
Chisolm put the eighth run on the board in the fifth. She led off with a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on a grounder to second by Oliver. Jimmerson then grounded to second to score Chisolm easily from third and record her fourth RBI of the game.
Whitney Gillespie (9-3) earned the win in a quick start that saw her need just 24 pitches to dispose of the only six batters she faced in two perfect innings of work. She struck out two batters before making way for Taylor West.
West allowed just two hits in her two shutout frames and the sophomore Faith Sims tossed a scoreless fifth to put the game away.
Rachel Sanders (0-3) suffered the loss after allowing seven runs, only one earned, on seven hits in four innings. She struck out one and walked six.
The Gamecocks open Ohio Valley Conference play on Saturday, when they host UT Martin in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. at University Field. Admission is free for JSU students and all fans ages 18 and under.
SIUE 7, KANSAS 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE softball improved to 22-5 overall with an impressive 7-1 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks at Cougar Field.
Haley Chambers-Book collected her 11th win of the season, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning Wednesday. Kalei Kaneshiro and Alyssa Heren each homered for the Cougars.
Chambers-Book struck out seven and allowed just two hits, both in the top of the seventh inning.
Heren gave the Cougars a boost in the opening inning with a base hit up the middle. She later would become the first SIUE player this season to collect four hits in a game.
After Heren singled, Chambers-Book grounded into a fielder's choice. Zoe Schafer put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the runner into scoring position. Tess Eby then delivered line shot to center field for a double, scoring Chambers-Book.
SIUE added single tallies in the third and fourth innings. Schafer singled home Heren in the third. Reagan Curtis added a double down the left field line in the fourth, driving home pinch runner Jane Smith.
SIUE continued to add runs in the fifth on Kaneshiro's third home run of the season, a blast to left field with Allison Smiley on base. That made it 5-0.
Heren hit her 10th career home run in the sixth. Lopesilvero was on base on the blast to right center.
Chambers-Book gave up her first hit to Erin McGinley, a double to center field, in the seventh. Taylor Dodson's infield single plated Kansas' only run.
The Ohio Valley Conference season kicks off this weekend. SIUE has doubleheaders against Tennessee State and Belmont on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
AUSTIN PEAY 5, SAMFORD 2; AUSTIN PEAY 10, SAMFORD 7
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s softball team hit five home runs, Wednesday at Chery Holt Field, to power its way past Samford University, 5-2 and 10-7, in its final pre-Ohio Valley Conference contests.
Of all the home runs the Govs (10-14) hit on Wednesday, none may have been bigger that the final one of the day, a three-run shot by Kendall Vedder in the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 2, to cap a six-run, sixth inning, rally past Samford (10-21), who had scored five runs of their own in the top of the inning to take their only lead of the day, 7-4.
The Govs rally started in the sixth inning by loading the bases, with one out, on two walks and a hit batter, with pinch hitter Brett Jackson bring in the first run of the inning to make it 7-5, when she too was hit by a pitch.
Kacy Acree followed by tying the game, 7-7, with a two-run single up the middle.
That brought up Vedder would take the first pitch for a strike, but then hammered the second pitch she saw over the left field fence to put the Govs back in front for good, 10-7.
Vedder would finish Game 2 going 3-for-4 at the plate, with two runs scored and three RBIs.
Kelsey Gross (7-4) would take it from there in the seventh inning, as the reliever sat the Bulldogs down in order to seal the victory and the doubleheader sweep.
Austin Peay had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning – on a three-run homer by Christiana Gable – before Samford made it a one-run game – with two runs of its own in the top of the third.
The Govs would extend its lead out to a two-run margin, 4-2, in the bottom of the fourth inning on an infield ground out by Rikki Arkansas, where it would stay until Samford’s five-run sixth-inning to take the lead.
In Game 1, Austin Peay’s first two runs of the game came via the long ball, with Danielle Liermann blasting a change-up out to left field for a home run in the first inning, while Carly Mattson led off the second inning with a home run.
The Govs would make it 3-0 latter in the second inning on an RBI single to right field by Erica Inagaki.
Samford would cut the APSU lead to 3-2 in the top of the third inning, but the Bulldogs would get no closer, with Austin Peay making in 4-2 in the top of the fourth inning on Mattson’s second home run of the game and 5-2 on an RBI double by Liermann in the fifth.
The two-home run game was the second of the year for Mattson, the first time in the program’s history that a player recorded two, two-homer games in the same season.
Gross would pitch the complete-game victory, scattering eight hits, while striking out nine.
TENNESSEE STATE 7, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee state defeated visiting Middle Tennessee, 7-4, on Wednesday night. With the win, the Tigers improved to 8-15 overall.
Selena Crafton went 3-for-4 with a run scored and one RBI while Courtney Gearlds recorded a pair of hits. Danica Gleason and Kim Trice each drove in a team-high two runs.
Lauren Woodward picked up her first win of the season as she went the distance and gave up just one earned run.
Tennessee State will open up OVC play this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders as it travels to SIUE on Saturday and Eastern Illinois on Sunday.
BELMONT 5, MEMPHIS 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont Softball relied on a Herculean effort for a second consecutive extra inning game to pull out its 23rd victory of the season on Wednesday night. The Bruins (23-6) defeated in-state rival Memphis (15-12) at E.S. Rose Park, 5-4, with a walk-off single in 11 innings.
Belmont jumped on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning, thanks to a triple by junior Lexi Rouse (Macon, Ga.) and a single by sophomore Hayley Baker (Rockwall, Texas). UM fired back notching its first run of the day in the top of the third frame.
BU maintained its one run advantage all the way until the top of the sixth inning when Memphis knotted the score. The 2-2 stalemate would drag on for the next three innings, forcing the contest to initiate the international tiebreaker rule.
In the bottom of the 11th, BU placed senior Kayla Wells (Bonney Lake, Wash.) on second base in the international tiebreaker. Classmate Chelsey Deloney (Gardendale, Ala.) reached first on four balls after two consecutive put outs. Junior Jess Andree (Darien, Ill.) hit a hard single to the third baseman, loading the bases. Finally, freshman Bailey Sims (Flowery Branch, Ga.) drove a single up the middle to score the gamewinner with the help of a Tiger fielding error.
Andree went 3-for-5 at the plate and Sims went 3-for-6. Deloney netted two runs but was walked twice and hit by pitch four times.
Freshman Brooklin Lee (Burns, Tenn.) went the distance inside the circle, tossing all 11 innings and collecting eight strikeouts.
Belmont returns to action this weekend, opening Ohio Valley Conference play on the road. The Bruins travel to Eastern Illinois and SIUE for a pair of doubleheaders.