JSU-LSU BOX SCORE  |  JSU-SU BOX SCORE

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Jacksonville State softball routed Southern, 18-4, late Saturday to claim a split on day two of the LSU Tiger Invitational after falling 4-1 to No. 16 LSU earlier in the afternoon.

The Gamecocks (4-3) amassed 16 hits and homered four times in the nightcap to roll to the mercy-rule win over the Jaguars after the host Tigers one-hit JSU in the earlier game. Also against Southern, a pair of singles by senior Chrissy O'Neal made her just the fifth player in school history to record 200 hits in a career. The Dallas, Ga., native now has 201 career base knocks, passing assistant coach Julie Boland for fifth place in the school record books.

Against the Jaguars, Jacksonville State got at least two hits from six different players, led by senior Nikki Prier's 3-for-5 day that saw the Raleigh, N.C., native double, and homer twice to drive in five runs. The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year opened the game with an RBI double in the first and followed that with a two-run homer in the third and another two-run jack in the fourth.

JSU would amass 11 runs in the third and three more in the fourth to put the mercy rule in effect. Freshmen Sam Rich and Krystal Ruth notched their first career home runs in the game, both three-run shots. Freshman Kelci Johnston went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while O'Neal, Rich and Kaycee Crow each recorded two hits in the rout.

Freshman Hilary Phillips (3-0) earned the win after allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits in four innings of work. Rich made her debut in the circle for the Gamecocks and allowed just a walk in one inning. Carolina Myers (0-5) suffered the loss for the Jaguars after allowing 18 earned runs on 16 hits in just four innings in the circle.

In the early game, Rachele Fico had the Gamecock batters figured out, as she struck out 10 and allowed just one hit, a solo home run to Kaycee Crow. She also walked one of the 23 batters she faced the entire game.

Ashley Eliasson held the Bayou Bengals to four runs on six hits in her complete-game effort that saw her also walk five and strike out two in her third-straight loss. Kirsten Shortridge went 2-for-4 with two RBI for LSU, while Lauren Houston drove in a run in a 2-for-3 game.

The Gamecocks will wrap up the weekend on Sunday at 3 p.m., when they face LSU again in a single game.