JSU-SU BOX SCORE  |  JSU-UH BOX SCORE

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Jacksonville State softball team silenced Southern in a 4-0 win before dropping a 7-1 decision to Houston on the first day of the LSU Tiger Invitational on Friday.

Freshman pitcher Hilary Phillips went the distance in the opener to earn her second career win while leading the Gamecocks (3-2) to the win. The Ider, Ala., native struck out seven Southern batters while holding the Jaguars (0-8) to just three hits. In the second game of the day, JSU scored early but watched the Cougars (5-6) pull away for the win.

To open the day, the Gamecocks gave Phillips all the run support she would need by amassing 10 hits. Senior Nikki Prier was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored, while junior Sallie Beth Burch and sophomore Tess Echols each pitched in a pair of hits. Chrissy O'Neal and Sam Rich drove in runs, while senior Hillary Downs doubled to join Prier as the only Gamecocks with extra base hits.

Both teams struggled to plate a run for the first half of the game before the Gamecocks finally dented the board with a three-run fifth. O'Neal drove in the first run of the morning on a fielder's choice to short that scored Echols, the Prier singled up the middle to plate Mary Beth Ledbetter before eventually scoring on an illegal pitch.

The Gamecocks got one more in the top of the seventh on a Rich single that plated Prier and gave Phillips (2-0) more than enough of a cushion. She did walk a pair of batters in the bottom of the inning but a pair of strikeouts closed the door on any Southern hopes.

Joei Glynn (0-5) suffered the loss for the Jaguars after surrendering three runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings in the circle. Carolina Myers tossed the final 2.1 innings and gave up a run on three hits in the process.

In the Gamecocks' finale of the day, Rich drove in her second run of the day in the home half of the first, a single to left that drove in O'Neal and gave JSU what would be a short-lived 1-0 lead. Houston answered in the top of the second with a run and , after scoring one in a the fifth and another in the sixth, broke it open in the seventh with four runs that were highlighted by Melissa Gregson leadoff home run.

Junior Ashley Eliasson (1-2) was tagged with the loss for JSU after allowing seven runs, five earned, on nine hits and five walks in seven innings of work. The Vallejo, Calif., native struck out five and had one wild pitch.

Bailey Watts (4-3) earned the win after limiting the JSU offense to an unearned run on six hits in her complete game. She fanned eight and walked four.

Rich was 2-for-3 and O'Neal went 2-for-4 to lead JSU at the plate, while Ashleigh Jones and Katy Beth Sherman were Houston's only multi-hit performers with two apiece.

JSU will continue the Tiger Invitational on Saturday, when they take on No. 16 LSU at 1 p.m. before beginning bracket play later in the afternoon.