FRIDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 3, @Jacksonville State 1
@Jacksonville State 3, Austin Peay 0
AUSTIN PEAY 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1; JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nicole Rodriguez tossed a complete-game shutout in the second game of Friday's doubleheader with Austin Peay, helping the Jacksonville State softball team salvage a split in the key Ohio Valley Conference matchup.
After dropping the first game 3-1 to a late rally by the Governors (21-15, 6-2 OVC), Rodriguez delivered her first career shutout in the perfect opportunity. She stymied the Austin Peay bats to lead the Gamecocks (24-10, 8-2 OVC) to a 3-0 win.
Senior ace Faith Sims was masterful for six innings in the opening game, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning before the Governors rattled off five singles that led to three runs and a come-from-behind win.
Rodriguez closed the door in the second game, allowing just four hits in her first complete game of the season and her first shutout in her two seasons at JSU.
At the plate, Anna Chisolm had hits in both games, while Amber Jones drove in a run in each.
In the opener, Sims shut down the Peay offense for six innings, while Govs starter Morgan Rackel was keeping the JSU offense from getting far in front. The Gamecocks managed a run in the second, when Alexus Jimmerson led off the inning with a single, moved to third on Chisolm's single and scored on a Jones grounder.
That 1-0 score would hold until the seventh, when Kelsey Gross' leadoff single to right broke up Sims' no-hitter and starting a streak of four-straight singles and six-straight batters to reach. The three-run frame would be enough for Rackel (15-5), who held JSU to a run on five hits and struck out seven in seven innings.
Sims (15-3) allowed three runs on five hits in her seven innings, striking out five and walking three.
In the final game, Rodriguez (5-3) held Peay in check, allowing the four hots and walking just one in her seven innings in the circle.
Whiel she was holding the Govs off the board, the Gamecocks were getting just enough off of APSU starter Kelly Mardones (3-9), who surrendered three runs on four hits in six frames of work. She did strike out eight.
The first of those runs came in the bottom of the first, when a leadoff single by Hannahstaysia Weaver set up a two-out RBI double from Anna hood that put JSU up by a run.
The Gamecocks scored again in the third on a grounder from Jones that drove in Karsen Mosley after she reached on an error to start the inning. Hayley Sims drove in the final JSU run in the fifth, when her grounder plated Jones, who reached on an error earlier in the inning.