JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Emily Sanchez singled up the middle to score Victoria Brown on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning for the game-winning run to lead Jacksonville University past 23rd-ranked North Carolina State, 8-7, here Saturday.

The Dolphins (2-1) had rallied with four runs in the home half of the eighth inning thanks in part to a Kristen Griffith three-run homer to answer N.C. State's Meredith Burroughs' eighth inning grand slam.

"Tonight's result is a great win for our club," said Head Coach Jennifer Steele. "N.C. State is the first ranked opponent we've beaten during my time here, and I couldn't be more proud of the way our team fought.

"We finally found our rhythm offensively. We were taking aggressive cuts early in the count and stayed in attack mode. We had so many great individual performances but this was one of the best team wins I've ever been a part of. We went deep into our bench, had reserves in and out of the lineup, and clawed out a quality win."

Danielle Baker hit a two-run homer in the home half of the seventh inning to force extra innings for Jacksonville.

Victoria Brown had a strong outing on the mound through six innings but ran into trouble in the top half of the seventh.

The Wolfpack's Molly Hutchinson doubled to open the frame and Maggie Hawkins followed with a two-run home run. Paige Curtis (2-0), who pitched three innings for the victory, entered in relief and stopped the scoring with a bases-loaded pop up to leftfield.

Heather Roberts put the Dolphins on the board first with a solo homer to right-centerfield in the home half of the second inning.

Hawkins returned the favor with a one-run dinger of her own out to leftfield in the top of the fourth inning.

Jacksonville threatened in the bottom half of the fifth with runners on second and third, but came up empty. The Dolphins suffered the same fate in the seventh after a one-out double to centerfield by Sanchez, but JU couldn't produce a run.

Courtney Mirabella of N.C. State (2-2) pitched eight innings and gave up 10 hits and six earned runs.

Jacksonville is back in action Sunday when it hosts Coastal Carolina at 3 p.m.