JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville softball team used an early burst of runs against the Tarleton State Texans to clinch its fifth win out of six games, 5-3. Three Dolphins (8-11) had multi-hit games in Madison Bratek, Kailey Harrigan, and Alison Carter, while Madison Reynolds reached base twice in two ABs herself. Freshman Skylar Waggoner (3-5) got the nod in the circle and pitched seven innings of four-hit softball. It was her sixth game this season where she's gone at least six frames. Waggoner struck out six and surrendered just three runs.

"We challenged the girls all week to start fast," said head coach Erica Ayers. "It's been up and down all year, we know we can bounce back, needed to prove we can come out of the gates swinging and we did that tonight in all three phases of the game."
 
Reynolds and Madison Bratek started the game off with a pair of singles, and after a fielder's choice put runners on the corners, Harrigan hit a liner up the middle to bring home Reynolds and get the Dolphins on the board first. A three-up, three-down inning from Waggoner carried momentum into the home half of the inning, and JU would go on to score again. Carter started the second with a single, and, after a sacrifice bunt from Dacie Watterson and a wild pitch, ended up on third. A second wild pitch saw Carter slide home and double the Dolphin lead.
 
The third inning is where JU did most of its damage. To start the frame, Tarleton State got one back via a solo home run from Schaefer, but Waggoner responded with a strikeout to preserve the 2-1 lead. Madison Bratek singled, and Kailey Harrigan followed suit with a single to left center. Averi Harcus hit her fourth RBI in a week's time to bring home Bratek, and Carter ripped a single up the middle to bring home Harrigan. After a Texans pitching change, and with runners on second and third, Watterson hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field, extending the JU lead to 5-1.
 
The next two frames saw Jacksonville threaten but fail to score, and Waggoner retire a total of seven straight batters. In the top of the sixth, the Texans got a runner with one out with a single to right, and Schaefer hit her second home run of the night to bring the Texans' deficit down to two at 5-3. Waggoner then got the next three batters out to stop the bleeding. After a pair of singles in the bottom of the inning, JU was unable to add any insurance to its two-run lead.
 
Tarleton State got its first runner of the inning on in the seventh, but the Dolphins' freshman pitcher navigated throughout the remainder of the inning with no issues to clinch JU's fifth win out of its last six games.
 
UP NEXT

The Jacksonville softball team returns to the diamond tomorrow for day two of the Jacksonville Spring Break Challenge on March 9. The Dolphins are slated for a 2 pm game against the USC Upstate Spartans. If the weather allows it, JU will play in a doubleheader, with game two against Marist at a tentative start time of 4:30 pm.