JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville University softball team finished third overall in the ASUN Tournament Friday evening after defeating North Florida in a do-or-die contest, 9-2, but later falling to top-seeded Central Arkansas, 6-1.
The team's tournament finish was its best since 2021 where the team won three games. Jacksonville ended its season with a 34-21 record, its best mark since 2011. The win total was the first 30-win season under head coach
Erica Ayers and the first 30-win year for JU since 2017. In totality, Jacksonville's 2026 season is rivaled almost exclusively by the '11 year when the Dolphins won the tournament crown and made their way to NCAA Tournament play.
Jacksonville got as far as it did in the tournament by virtue of entering as the #4 seed, defeating #5 FGCU in the team's opener. The squad later fell to UCA, entering the consolation bracket with their backs against the wall.
JU drew none other than #7 North Florida in its first game Friday, marking the seventh meeting of the season between the 'Phins and the Ospreys. It was Jacksonville who jumped all over North Florida to begin with, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Graduate
Alison Carter got the scoring started with a two RBI-single that saw Carter to second and
Kate Linkletter plus
Jaida Thomas trotting home.
Freshman
Emma Mansfield joined in with a sac-fly followed by a
Vic Brunette single that got
Sarah Beth Brake home in masterful fashion, swim-moving over the outstretched glove of the UNF catcher.
UNF tacked on two in the third, but JU had an answer, as they did all season after earning a 4-2 season sweep over the crosstown rivals.
Linkletter crushed an RBI-single, Brake too hit an RBI-single and a fielding error got Chadwick back to the dugout. Up 8-2, Chadwick secured the game with a solo homerun in the sixth to clinch Jacksonville's tournament-extending win.
Carter was the big story during the game, leading the team with a 2-4 showing at the plate and a duo of RBIs. Carter also collected her 38
th double of her career in the fourth inning, moving the graduate to a tie for first-place overall in career doubles across program history.
To get credit, the senior Chadwick hit her 11
th home run of the season which placed her second on the team.
Graduate Linkletter was plunked once more at the plate against UNF, her 27
th of the year. She finished her lone season in Duval County as the nation leader in hit by pitches and HBPs per game.
In the circle, ASUN Pitcher of the Year
Jacy Harrelson earned her 22
nd starting win of the season behind a complete-game showing. She struck out four in her final start of the season. Harrelson ended her sophomore year in second-place in single-season victories.
With the win, Jacksonville advanced to face the Sugar Bears who were defeated by #2 Stetson earlier in the day. And again, it was the Dolphins who struck first with a Linkletter solo shot to left field to jump ahead a run in the bottom of the first.
That scoring burst was all JU could muster through the game.
Reese Wells held UCA scoreless until the fifth, when the lead broke behind a three-RBI single. Wells finished with five innings to her name, pitching almost flawless ball for most of it. She fanned two in her time in the circle, closing out her junior year.
Chadwick added to her big tournament run with a double as her only hit of the game, part of a seven-hit night for the Dolphins.
By tournament end, both Thomas and Harrelson were named to the All-Tournament team, adding to a career's worth of accolades for the Jacksonville stars.
With the season now over, Jacksonville looks to replace the likes of Brake, Linkletter, Chadwick and Carter. The team will build off its 12 postseason accolades, first 30-win season under their veteran coach, two tournament awards and one season worth innumerable words.
