JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The first Atlantic Sun series win is still within reach for Jacksonville University's softball team. The Dolphins hosted Lipscomb at the Debbie & Fred Pruitt Softball Complex Friday afternoon and after falling 1-0 in the first game, JU turned things around in the second with a 6-4 victory.
Due to the threat of inclement weather, Saturday's rubber match has been moved from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m. Join the Dolphins for their Senior Day as they celebrate Jackie DiPiazza, Lexie Ballard, Ashley Simon, Adrienne Ramsay and Chunia Graves. The mothers of each senior will be throwing the ceremonial first pitch.
Lipscomb 1, Jacksonville 0
A single, hit batter and error loaded the bases for the Bisons in the top of the fourth. In the previous inning the team left a pair of runners in scoring position, and Taylor Rossman and her defense again limited Lipscomb's attack, forcing the team to strand three more. Rossman worked her way out of the one-out jam with a pair of 3-2 counts, the first recorded for a K and the other a fly out to left field.
Lipscomb continued to threaten in the fifth where it scored the lone run of the game. After opening the stanza with a pair of singles, a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third base before one crossed home plate on a 5-3 groundout.
Lipscomb's Courtney Young retired 12 straight JU batters until Charli Bradshaw broke the stretch with an infield single in the fifth. Lexie Ballard was the first to make contact with a double in the first inning but Jacksonville would only manage those two hits as it fell 1-0.
Rossman pitched the entire game, surrendering seven hits, fanning three and allowing one run.
Jacksonville 6, Lipscomb 4
Before the first out was notched, Lipscomb tacked three runs on the board, all credited to starting pitcher Victoria Brown.
When Taylor Rossman entered the game there was a runner occupying each base. She sent the next three Lipscomb batters back to their dugout with a fly out, pop up and unassisted play at third.
Posting two total hits in the first game, it didn't take much time for the Dolphins to record one in the closing outing of the doubleheader. Batting leadoff, Brown singled up the middle before Danielle Baker slapped the ball to left field. The inning eventually saw the bases loaded and Brooke Smith drew a walk to score JU's first run of the day.
First baseman Emily Sanchez returned to Jacksonville's starting lineup after a three-game hiatus. She didn't record a hit in the first outing but tied things up, 3-3, in game two with a 2-RBI double.
In the fourth, the Dolphins took their first lead of the day when Lexie Ballard scored on an errant Lipscomb throw and Brooke Smith plated another on a sacrifice fly.
JU's 5-3 advantage lasted a third of an inning but it wouldn't relinquish its edge as Paige Neely tallied a leadoff double and scored two batters later on another double.
The Dolphins protected their lead with running grabs, diving grabs, plays at the plate and strikeouts while adding an insurance run on an RBI-single from Brown in the sixth.
Rossman earned the win in 4.1 innings pitched. She held the Bisons to five hits and one run. Brown returned to the mound late in the game and received her first save of the season. She pitched 2.2 innings with five hits, three runs (one earned) and a pair of strikeouts.
