BOX SCORE

MOREHEAD, Ky. – Junior Ashley Eliasson tossed a three-hit shutout for the Jacksonville State softball team on Sunday, leading the Gamecocks to a 4-0 win over Morehead State and a series win.

The Gamecocks (19-16, 6-6 Ohio Valley Conference) capped a big road series win over the Eagles (19-16, 9-4 OVC), who entered the weekend in a tie atop the OVC standings. It marked the second-straight weekend in which JSU has won 2-of-3 against a team in first place after the Gamecocks took the series with league-leading UT Martin a week ago.

The Eagles' leadoff batter singled and eventually reached third before Eliasson, a native of Vallejo, Calif., got out of the inning, but no MSU player would get past second the rest of the day. Eliasson did not record a strikeout and walked three batters, but she kept the Morehead State bats at bay all afternoon to improve to 13-7 on the year.

The Gamecocks got things going in the second, when sophomore Tess Echols drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk that plated junior Sallie Beth Burch and gave JSU an early 1-0 advantage. Eliasson wouldn't need any more support, but the Gamecocks gave her three more runs to work with in the fifth to put the deciding score on the board.

All three of the runs in the fifth were unearned, thanks to a pair of MSU errors. The first run came across off a single from senior Nikki Prier that scored senior Chrissy O'Neal, who led off the frame by reaching on an error by Eagles third baseman Rebecca Butler. Junior Amanda Crow singled in Prier and a fielder's choice off of the bat of sophomore Kaycee Crow allowed Burch to score the final run of the game.

Amanda Crow led the Gamecocks' seven-hit attack with a 2-for-3 afternoon that also saw her drive in a run. Elizabeth Wagner singled twice in three at bats to account for all but one of the Eagles' hits.

Sarah Funston (8-7) suffered the loss after giving up three runs, one earned, on four hits in 4.1 innings in the circle. Alex Gjevre came on to pitch the final 2.2 innings and allowed an unearned run on three hits in the process.

The Gamecocks will be at home on Wednesday at 4 p.m., when they host Tennessee Tech in a single Ohio Valley Conference game at University Field. They will then host Eastern Kentucky in a three-game series that will begin with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday. Admission is free to all JSU home games.