MOBILE, Ala. –In matchups against Sam Houston and No. 22 South Alabama, the Jacksonville University softball team routed the Bearkats 11-3 before falling to USA, 5-4, in an extra-inning nail bitter.
Game One
Jacksonville's bats erupted for 11 runs to avenge an earlier setback against Sam Houston. JU run-ruled the Bearkats in the bottom of the sixth inning for its second win of the USA Invitational.
A three-run jack in the first stanza lifted Sam Houston to an early lead and that would be all the team amassed as the Dolphins called on Victoria Brown to close the game. She tossed 5.2 innings of shutout softball, allowing no runs on five hits with two strikeouts. In her last eight innings pitched, Brown has skunked the opposition with no runs put on the board.
Highlighted by Danielle Bakers' three-RBI double, the Dolphins unloaded in the second inning, plating eight to run the Bearkats' Tayler Atkinson off the mound.
In the fourth, Charli Bradshaw hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring Brown home from third base and later in the sixth inning, Brown scored her third run of the game on a sac fly from Lexie Ballard.
With two outs and one hit away from earning the victory, Emily Sanchez doubled to left center and Jackie DiPiazza, pinch running for Sanchez, recorded the game-ending run after a Bradshaw single.
Sanchez who is riding the waves of a seven-game hitting streak went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. The first baseman is leading the Dolphins with a .368 batting average and is second on the team in RBIs with 10.
Game Two
Jacksonville left everything it had on Jaguar Field and nearly upset its nationally ranked host in the process.
"Today, we showed what our potential can be," said Head Coach Jennifer Steele. "We just went extra innings with a top-25 team and lost on an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth."
"South Alabama is a quality club, no doubt about it, but we hit more balls solid, scored more earned runs, and Victoria threw the entire game. Her outing was exceptionally impressive, especially after she had already thrown all six innings against Sam Houston earlier in the day. She did a great job keeping their hitters off balance and having them hit the ball on the ground. We just need to make plays behind her. If we catch two ground balls and a ball that hits us in the mitt on a force play at the plate, they don't score any runs."
Ashley Simon put the Dolphins on the board early on and while her attempt was recorded for an out, the sacrifice fly to right-center scored Baker for JU's 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the first frame, USA erased the Dolphins' advantage with an RBI single. The next inning went scoreless, but the team's piled it on in the third.
Brown sparked the inning with a leadoff single and rounded the bases on the Fins' next at-bat as Simon doubled to left field. There were runners on second and third when Bradshaw took her turn at the plate and her ball traveled to center field, another sac fly, to score one. The Dolphins left the stanza with a 3-1 edge before the Jaguars charged from behind for their first lead at 4-3.
Continuing on with the momentum she had against Sam Houston, Brown kept the Jaguars off the bases for the next three frames, registering six straight outs between the fifth and sixth innings.
The Dolphins entered the seventh trailing by one and with two outs Griffith roped a double to left-center to bring home Ballard for the tying run.
Other than its leadoff single, USA left the inning on a quiet note; a pair of ground outs and a fly out halted any possible rally as the contest continued on, marking the Dolphins' fifth extra inning game and their second of the tournament.
Still tied at 4-4 in the ninth, a costly throwing error assisted the Jaguars in claiming the win. South Alabama singled up the middle to get Alyssa Linn on base and after its second hitter reached on a fielder's choice, Linn advanced to second on an error. With no outs and a runner in scoring position, the Jags hit a single through the right side for the walk-off victory.
"It's still so early in the season, but I hope this game was a turning point," continued Steele. "We played a very high level of softball today. If we continue to have similar outings, we are going to be a very tough team to play in April and May. The challenge will continue to be keeping our foot on the gas. We have tomorrow off but we'll get right back at it on Tuesday to prepare for the Dolphin Classic."
Jacksonville returns home to the Debbie and Fred Pruitt Softball Complex for the Dolphin Classic. The three-day tournament begins on Friday, Feb. 27 and fields Campbell, Abilene Christian, Savannah State and the Fins.
