GAME ONE BOX SCORE  |  GAME TWO BOX SCORE

JACKSONVILLE – The Gamecocks controlled every facet of their doubleheader with Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, when the Jacksonville State softball team rolled to a pair of mercy-rule wins over the Colonels at University Field.

The Gamecocks (22-16, 9-6 Ohio Valley Conference) used a total of six home runs and four doubles in the twinbill and a pair of stellar pitching performances to roll to 8-0 and 10-2 wins over the Colonels (12-30, 6-10 OVC). JSU has now won seven of its last eight games and seven in a row against EKU and have won the last nine games of the series at University Field.

Junior Ashley Eliasson and freshman Hilary Phillips each tossed one hitters to lead the Gamecocks in the circle. Eliasson, a native of Vallejo, Calif., won her 10th straight decision in the opener, a five-inning complete game that saw her throw just 55 pitches and allow just two runners reach base.

Phillips followed Eliasson's lead in the second game, holding the Colonels hitless through 4 2/3 before a two-run home run by Nikki Bruce spoiled the no-hitter and the shutout with one swing. A native of Ider, Ala., Phillips struck out six batters and walked one in her eighth complete game of the year. She needed just 64 pitches to get the win.

Sophomore Kaycee Crow went 0-for-3 in the opener to snap a nine-game hitting streak, but the Ringold, Ga., native got it going in the finale with a 2-for-3 effort that saw her hit a grand slam and drive in five runs. Senior Hillary Downs was 4-for-4 on the afternoon, while junior Amanda Crow went 3-for-4. Both players drove in three runs.

JSU's bats were hot all afternoon. The Gamecocks used an RBI double from junior Sallie Beth Burch and a three-run home run from junior Amanda Crow in the first inning of the opener to claim a quick 4-0 lead. They would never look back, stretching the lead to 6-0 in the second on freshman Kelci Johnston's third career home run, a two-run shot to left.

Eliasson (15-7) kept sitting the Colonel batters down and the Gamecocks put the game away in the fifth, thanks to a two-run walk-off single by pinch hitter Krystal Ruth. The two-out rope through the right side scored senior Downs from third and Amanda Crow from second.

EKU starter Mea Flores (1-6) was tagged with the loss and with six runs on just four hits in two innings of work. Stacye Toups pitched the final 2 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on five hits in the process.

In the nightcap, it took the Gamecocks a little longer to get going at the plate. They got a run in the second on an RBI single from Kaycee Crow and broke it open in the third on her grand slam, a ball that cleared the wall down the left field line and gave the Gamecocks a 5-0 advantage.

They scored three more in the fourth on a three-run blast from Downs and then answered the Colonels two-run fifth with two in the bottom half. Senior Mary Beth Ledbetter led off the fifth with a solo homer, and senior Nikki Prier belted a walk-off double off of the wall in center that scored Tess Echols from second.

Kristin Perry (5-13) suffered the loss in the circle for EKU after surrendering seven runs on just three hits in 3 2/3 innings. She did walk seven batters before giving way to Toups, who surrendered three runs on four hits in the final inning of work.

The two teams will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m. at University Field. Admission is free for all fans.