Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Jacksonville State
Racers Rebound To Pick Up Split At Jacksonville State
5/7/2011 6:17:02 PM | Softball
Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2
Murray State softball's OVC Championship aspirations remain alive Saturday night after coming back from a 4-3 loss in game one to knock off Jacksonville State 6-3 in game two at University Field in Jacksonville, Ala.
The match up between the top two hitting home run teams in the OVC ended in game one with a Jacksonville State walk-off shot. The Gamecocks hit their second home run of the day with one out in the bottom of the seventh, a solo homer from Hayden Crawford to end the game and give the Gamecocks a 4-3 win in the opener.
The Racers, trailing 3-0 in the top of the fifth inning, put together a couple of timely base hits with two outs to score three and tie the game. Megan Glosser got the third hit of the inning with runners on second and third to score one, advancing to second on the throw. Jenna Bradley followed a batter later with a line drive through the middle of the infield and was thrown out trying to advance to second, but not before driving in her 54th and 55th runs of the season.
The Racers got in an early hole in the first after JSU scored a run without picking up a hit in the inning. The Gamecocks extended their lead to 3-0 on a line drive home run off the bat of Abbey Stepp in the second inning.
With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Jacksonville State appeared to score a pair of runs on a sacrifice fly after the ball rolled to the backstop on the throw, but the runner at third was ruled to have left early for the third out of the inning to take the game into the seventh tied at three.
Shelby Kosmecki took the loss for Murray State (22-26, 12-15 OVC), falling to 10-6 on the season. She gave up four runs on the day, three earned, on six hits and three walks in 6.1 innings.
Tiffany Harbin earned the complete game victory for JSU, striking out eight with three runs on six hits and two walks.
Stephanie Mattocks led MSU with a pair of base hits, both singles down the line in left field.
The Racers responded right away in game two, stringing together three hits and a walk to score two. Glosser and Bradley each singled into shallow left field with one out to put runners on first and second. After Lauren Buch walked to load the bases, Stephanie Mattocks singled through the left side of the infield to score a run and Megan Sims drove in a second, reaching on a fielder's choice as the out was recorded at second base.
MSU broke the game open in the second, knocking JSU starter Ashley Eliasson out in the second inning. After Christian Cox singled into center field and Taylor Wilson walked, Bradley reached with two outs in the inning on a fielding error by the Jacksonville State third baseman that allowed Wilson and Cox to score. Buch followed with her 15th home run of the season, a two run blast deep over the fence to left center to put the Racers up 6-0.
Jacksonville State (36-17, 21-8) cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third on a pair of homers. Tess Echols hit a two run shot that curved around the left field foul pole, and Amanda Crow hit a solo home run later in the inning to close the advantage to 6-3.
Chelsey Sullivan pitched all seven innings for MSU to earn her eighth win of the season. She kept the Gamecocks to three hits and four walks while striking out five on the day.
Mattocks had two hits in the game for the second time and Glosser and Bradley each had a pair as MSU out-hit Jacksonville State 14-9 on the day.
The Racers remain in the hunt for the sixth and final spot in the OVC Championship after Tennessee Tech followed suit and split in its games at UT Martin. Murray State needs to win on Sunday with Tech losing to jump the Golden Eagles on the last day of the regular season.
MSU concludes its regular season schedule tomorrow, closing out the series with Jacksonville State. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
