BOX SCORE

MARTIN, Tenn. – The second-seeded Jacksonville State softball team scored in each of the first four innings to set the stage for Ashley Eliasson to put away sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech, 10-4, on the first day of the Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament.

Junior Sallie Beth Burch went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead a group of eight Gamecocks (28-17) with at least one hit, and Eliasson went the distance to send the Golden Eagles (26-29) to the loser's bracket and put JSU in Friday's 4 p.m. winner's bracket game. Eliasson held TTU to four runs on three hits, all in the second inning, to win her 14th straight decision.

Burch, a junior from Moulton, Ala., used a two-run single in the fifth and an RBI double in the third to account for her team-high three RBI one day after receiving First Team All-OVC honors for her efforts in 2010. Mary Beth Ledbetter, a senior from Southside, Ala., drove in two runs on a pair of hits to continue her recent hot streak. Over the past 10 games, Ledbetter boasts a .462 average with seven RBI.

Also driving in runs for the Gamecocks were sophomore Tess Echols, junior Amanda Crow and sophomore Kaycee Crow. Echols plated two with a two-run double in the third, while Kaycee Crow belted a solo home run in the second. Amanda Crow used a sacrifice fly in the fourth to drive in her run.

Burch got things going for the Gamecocks in the first, when her two-run single plated Prier and freshman Kelci Johnston and gave JSU an early 2-0 lead. Tennessee Tech accounted for all of its offense in the second inning, when a Callie Schmidt two-run homer and a two-run single from Melody Christian put the Golden Eagles up, 4-2.

JSU cut its deficit to one in the home half of the inning, when Kaycee Crow's leadoff home run bounced off the Bettye Giles Field scoreboard beyond the left field wall. The Gamecock offense went to work in the third, plating five runs on five hits and a pair of TTU errors and putting the game comfortably in the hands of JSU's ace, Eliasson.

Eliasson (18-7) ran through the TTU lineup after the second, retiring 14-straight batters at one point before allowing a pair of base runners in the seventh. She tossed 122 pitches, 77 of which were strikes, while striking out three and walking four.

TTU starter Maddie Schmissrauter (9-8) suffered the loss for the Golden Eagles after surrendering eight runs, three earned, on nine hits in three innings in the circle. Whitney Cummings came on in the relief and held JSU scoreless on one hit over the final three innings.

JSU will play at 4 p.m. on Friday against the winner of Thursday's late game between No. 1 seed UT Martin and No. 4 seed Eastern Illinois. The winner of Friday's game will advance to Saturday's title game. All of the Gamecocks' action in the tournament will be carried live on the JSU Radio Network.