JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville softball split a tightly-contested doubleheader with defending ASUN Conference Champion USC Upstate Saturday afternoon as a Madison Ragan three-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Dolphins a 4-3 victory in game one, but the visiting Spartans prevailed in game two, 2-0.
Game One
Ragan was the hero of game one for Jacksonville (26-20, 4-7 ASUN) as she collected her fifth home run of the season to help deliver a 4-3 victory over USC Upstate in game one.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, Ragan sent an 0-1 pitch deep into the trees beyond the left center field fence to bring in Allie McCourt and Ciara Jones, who reached on back-to-back infield singles, to give Jacksonville a 4-2 lead.
"It was a big two-out hit. [Ragan] made a great adjustment from her first at bat," added Steele. "You also have to give credit to [USC Upstate pitcher] Holly McKinnon; she's a great pitcher. She kept our bats at bay. We were just able to get the timely hit when it mattered."
The Spartans rallied in the top of the seventh and a sacrifice fly with two outs made it a one-run ball game, but the Dolphins held on to down the defending ASUN champs in the series opener, 4-3.
USC Upstate (37-11, 10-4 ASUN) struck first in the top of the fourth when Brittany Case swatted the ball into deep left field for a triple to bring in Karla Beasley, who reached on a Dolphin error.
Jacksonville promptly answered back in the bottom of the fifth when Danielle Baker drew a walk to lead off the half inning and was brought in by a sacrifice fly to centerfield from Makenzie Buss.
The Dolphins found themselves in a tough spot in the top of the sixth with two outs when a bases-loaded 3-2 pitch was called ball four and forced a Spartan home where USC Upstate regained the lead, 2-1.
Ragan threw 1.2 innings and struck out two to earn the win in the circle and improve to 7-4 on the season. Seana Mora tossed the final 1.0 innings and gave up just one hit for her first save of the season.
Taylor Thorpe pitched the first 4.1 innings for the Dolphins and struck out two but took the no-decision.
"We went deep in the bullpen; that's been a welcome change this year," added Steele. "Taylor [Thorpe] did a nice job starting the game off, Rocky [Ragan] kept it manageable through the middle of the game, and when we went to Seana [Mora], for her to be able to get the stop when she needed it and to trust her stuff and to throw it in a big moment was huge. Adding arms in our bullpen and being able to give the opposing team different looks was a big reason we could keep their bats at bay.
For the Spartans, McKinnon tossed a complete game and struck out six to fall to 19-7 in the circle.
Game Two
If things fell in the Dolphins' favor in game one, they fell in favor of the visitors in game two.
A Dolphin throwing error allowed Beasley to score with two outs in the top of the second to give USC Upstate a quick 1-0 lead.
Neither team was able to get anything going until the top of the fourth when Alicia Dorgan knocked a bomb over the center field wall to make it 2-0 Spartans.
Jacksonville countered back with its best opportunity of the game when Ragan hit a sac bunt to move Jones and Heather Roberts to third and second, respectively, with one out; however, ground out and a pop up ended the Dolphins' chances.
Back in in the circle for the final 3.1 innings of the game, Mora was able to pitch herself out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the seventh and get the Spartans' 1-2 hitters to pop up and fly out to end the inning without inflicting any damage. The Dolphins were unable to get anything going offensively and the Spartans escaped with a 2-0 win in game two.
"Seana did a great job keeping their bats at bay and finding a way to compete. Give credit to our bullpen to be able to manage a heavy-hitting team like Upstate," Steele said.
Bilodeau tossed 3.2 innings and struck out two to fall to 8-7 in the circle.
"We're at a point right now where if we have outs, we have still have chances," Steele added. "Sometimes, that's just the game, that's just softball, it's not going to bounce your way. As far as going about it the right way and staying in it and fighting and competing, we did that all at a really high level. We're going to have to be creative tomorrow and figure out a way to execute our game plan when we get our chances."
Jones led the Dolphins at the plate with a 3-for-6 performance, while Roberts finished the day 2-for-5 and Ragan drove in three RBI.
The Dolphins close out the series with USC Upstate tomorrow at the Debbie & Fred Pruitt Softball Complex at 1:00 p.m. The game will also be broadcast on ESPN3.
