JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Dolphins were winners at home once more, as JU won its pair of games to open the 2025 JU Classic.
Jacksonville (11-5) defeated DePaul 2-1 to open the day then Mount St. Mary's (MD) 8-0 in five innings to close out the first day of play.
The pair of wins marked Jacksonville's third and fourth wins consecutively. In its last 10 games, JU is now 9-1.
Solid Hitting Sees Jacksonville Past DePaul
While the scoring may have been close, Jacksonville did plenty at the plate to take a 2-1 win over the visitors from Chicago.
Led by a pair of hits each from Averi Harcus and Jazz Jones, JU outhit DePaul 7-3 in Jacksonville's first game of the day.
Harcus and Jones both went 2-3, each tallying an RBI. Jones broke a 0-0 stalemate in the second with a single to center that scored Kiersten Stevens.
In the fifth, Harcus knocked in Haley Fox with a single of her own to take a 2-0 lead. DePaul scored a late run in the sixth, but Dolphin ace Skylar Waggoner closed out the inning strong despite the tying run lurking on third.
As for Waggoner, the sophomore picked up her third win of the year (3-1) behind a full game showing in the circle.
Waggoner allowed just three hits and fanned four in the victory. She has now gone back-to-back games with four strikeouts and has four appearances this year with four or more Ks.
Gabby Baylog went 1-2 at the plate as did Stevens. Alison Carter went 1-3.
Jacksonville has only lost one game this year when it collects seven or more hits (Jacksonville State). Before facing Mount St. Mary's, Jacksonville had seven or more hits in three of its last four games.
White Leads JU In Win Over Mountaineers
Jordan White pitched a stud of a game for JU in her second win of the season (2-0) to cap off play Friday.
White went five innings, allowing just a single hit while striking out four. The only hit given up was with two outs in the third. The sophomore has given up just eight total hits in four appearances this season in 14 total innings of work.
At the plate, things were explosive yet again for JU as the team rattled off another seven-hit game. Harcus was the clubhouse leader, going 2-4 with a game-high four RBIs.
All of JU's hits came from its top five batters, along with a pinch hit from Reese Wells.
Harcus blew open the game in the first with a 3-RBI double. For good measure, she sealed the game in the fourth with another double that scored a runner. She is now tied for second on the team in doubles with three.
GAME NOTES
- Jacksonville stole two bases against the Mountaineers and one against DePaul.
- Jacksonville pitchers faced 25 DePaul hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out four.
- The Dolphins power output against Mount St. Mary's was led by Harcus, who had two extra base hits.
- Jacksonville went 6-for-14 (.429) with runners in scoring position against the Mountaineers.
- White faced 19 Mount St. Mary's hitters in the game, allowing four ground balls and six fly balls while striking out four.
COACH'S COMMENTS
"We swung the bats pretty well today," head coach Erica Ayers said. "We haven't always handled the mix of speeds as well as we did today. We were picking it up early and didn't get fooled often. Credit to (assistant coach) Jake Sidwell and the work he is doing with the hitters. We work a lot on zone awareness and speed mixes. I am really happy for the kids and their hard work paid off today… Jordan (White) threw really well tonight."
NEXT UP
Jacksonville continues its run in the JU Classic on Saturday, March 1. The Dolphins take on Mt. St Mary's at 2:30 p.m. and then DePaul at 5 p.m.
JU returns to play on Wednesday, March 5 against #8 FSU at UNF.
