SATURDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 10, Princeton 2
Georgia 8,
Jacksonville State 2
JACKSONVILLE STATE 10, PRINCETON 2; GEORGIA 8, JACKSONVILLE STATE 2
TALLAHASSE, Fla. - Jacksonville State scored in each of the first four innings and then used a four-run sixth to eliminate Princeton in a 10-2 mercy-rule win in the Tallahassee Regional on Saturday.
The Gamecocks got two home runs from Jamie McGuire and rode a three-hit day from Anna Chisolm that included a walk-off two-run single in the sixth to advance to a rematch with Georgia at 4:30 p.m. CT on JoAnne Graf Field. The winner will face host and No. 4 national seed Florida State in Sunday's regional championship.
Chisolm paced JSU on the day, reaching base all five times she stepped in the box. The St. Louis native drove in four runs, walked twice and singled three times to lead a 12-hit attack by the Gamecocks (41-11). The Tigers (25-20) fell behind early and couldn't claw back against JSU ace Whitney Gillespie, who kept them off balance for much of the game.
McGuire belted her 13th and 14th home runs of the season in the game, both solo shots. She has now hit five postseason round trippers after connecting on three in last week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Gillepsie, Emily Woodruff and Leila Chambers each added two hits in the game for JSU, with Woodruff notching two doubles and two RBI.
The Gamecocks struck first and did so early, using small ball to get the game's first run in the bottom of the first. Chisolm led off the frame with a walk, stole second, moved to third on an Alexus Jimmerson Grounder and then scored on Stephanie Lewis' infield single.
A leadoff walk in the second to Leila Chambers led to the second JSU run. Cadi Oliver bunted her to second and Emily Woodruff doubled her in to make it a 2-0 game and chase starting pitcher Erica Nori from the circle.
The Gamecocks broke the game open in the third with three two-out runs. A leadoff walk stared it again for the JSU offense, which started the frame with Lewis earning a free pass. She scored on Woodruff's second double of the day, and Chisolm followed with a two-run single to right that put JSU up 5-0.
JSU didn't' get the leadoff runner on the fourth, but Jamie McGuire got a run on the board with a one-out solo homer. The 13th homer of the season for the Glencoe, native sailed high above the wall in left field to make it a 6-0 JSU lead.
The Tigers pushed two runs across in the sixth, using a two-run single through the right side by Keeley Walsh to make it a 6-2 game.
McGuire's second homer followed in the home half of the inning and got one of the two runs back for JSU. She turned on the first pitch she saw from Riley Wilkinson and lined it over the wall in left to extend the Gamecocks' lead to 7-2. A wild pitch scored pinch runner Torre Roberts later in the inning to set up Chisolm's walk-off single.
Gillespie (21-5) earned the win in the circle after holding the Tigers to two runs, one earned, on four hits in six frames. She struck out four and walked three to help JSU advance in the elimination bracket.
Nori (9-4) suffered the loss for Princeton, allowing two runs on two hits and four walks in just 1 and 1/3 innings of work. Claire Klausner and Wilkinson each allowed four runs on five hits in relief for the Tigers.
The Jacksonville State softball team's season came to an end on Saturday night, when the Gamecocks fell 8-2 to No. 25 Georgia in an elimination game in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional.
After using a mercy-rule win to oust Princeton from the tournament earlier in the day, the Gamecocks (41-12) ran out of gas in the second game of the day. The Bulldogs (35-22) scored early and held off JSU to advance to Sunday's championship game vs. host and No. 4 national seed Florida State.
JSU's 2017 season comes to a close after posting its 11th 40-win season in school history and winning the program's sixth Ohio Valley Conference regular season and its sixth OVC Tournament title. It advanced to the NCAA Division I Championship for the eighth time and the seventh in the past 10 years, while earning at least one regional win for the sixth time.
Seven seniors wore the JSU uniform for the final time on Saturday. Taylor West, Emily Church, Jamie McGuire, Taylor Sloan, Stephanie Lewis and Jordan Sims contributed to 161 wins and lost just 59 times, while winning three OVC regular season titles and two OVC Tournament crowns over the last four years.
The Bulldogs drew first blood, scoring two in the top of the second inning. The first came on a Mahlena O'Neal double, and they stretched the lead to 2-0 on a Cortni Emanuel squeeze bunt.
JSU cut its deficit in half in the home half of the second, when Whitney Gillespie took starter Amanda Ablan over the left field wall for a solo homer that made it a 2-1 game. Gillespie turned on Ablan's 2-2 pitch for her seventh homer of the season.
Georgia got two more runs in the third, the first on a Maeve McGuire sac fly and the second on a Lacey Summerlin solo homer that made it a 4-1 game.
JSU mounted a threat in the fourth and got one back, thanks to a sac fly from Lewis that scored pinch runner Anna Snider and brought JSU to within two again.
The Bulldogs put the game away in the sixth with four runs that made it an 8-2 game.
West (16-5) suffered the loss after allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits in 3 and 1/3 innings of work. Gillespie allowed four runs on five hits in three innings, while Faith Sims recorded two outs and didn't allow a run.
Kyle Bass (9-3) earned the win in relief for UGA, holing JSU hitless through 3 and 1/3 innings. She struck out five batters after entering in relief for Ablan, who gave up two runs on three hits in 3 and 2/3 innings.
The Bulldogs recorded 11 hits, with Cortni Emanuel leading the way with three of them.