JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville University's softball team split action in the second day of the Green and Gold Classic Saturday with a 8-0 five-inning victory over St. Bonaventure and an 11-5 loss to Harvard.
Victoria Brown was dominant in the first game, allowing just one hit in five innings of work. The senior from Plano, Texas, also had a three-run homer in the fourth inning.
St. Bonaventure got just one runner on base in the entire game.
JU scored three runs in the first on a single by Brooke Smith that put Allie McCourt and Ciara Jones across and a single by Paige Curtis with the bases loaded that put Smith across.
The Dolphins loaded up the bases again in the bottom of the third, and again capitalized on a Curtis single that once again scored Smith.
Jones scored on a catcher's interference after a Smith single in the bottom of the fourth, and Brown forced the run rule with a three-run homer that scored Adrienne Ramsay, McCourt, and Heather Roberts.
Five runs on eight hits weren't enough to give the Dolphins the sweep of the day. Harvard put six on the board in the second inning, three in the fourth, one in the fifth, and one in the seventh, totaling 11 runs on 15 hits.
Jacksonville took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with a single by Smith that scored Jones. But the Dolphins left three on base and scored just one run on two hits.
The Crimson had just one hit in the first inning, but three errors allowed Harvard's bats to come alive in the second inning. The first error came on an errant throw home by the pitcher which allowed Harvard's Alexa Altchek to score. Another error came on the next play; an error near second allowed the batter to reach safely, and the runner on third scored. Then Harvard hit a triple that scored two more runs, and two more singles drove runs across before the Dolphins could stem the tide. Six runs scored on six hits, and one Harvard runner was left on base.
Harvard struck again in the fourth, putting three more across on three more hits. Altcheck doubled with the bases loaded and scored all three runs.
The Crimson scored once more in the fifth, putting the score at 10-1, and it looked like the run rule might come into effect once again. But JU fought back with three runs of its own. An error by the Harvard shortstop allowed Smith to reach safely, and after Kristen Griffith singled, Emily Sanchez homered to drive three runs across.
Both teams scored a run in the seventh inning; Harvard on a single with the bases loaded and JU on a home run by Roberts.
The Dolphins have two games left in the Green and Gold Classic; an 11:30 a.m. game against Albany and a 2:00 p.m. game against Presbyterian.
