BOX SCORE

MARTIN, Tenn. – Senior Nikki Prier belted a solo home run in the top of the seventh to break a tie and send the Jacksonville State softball team to Saturday's championship game of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament with a 5-4 win over top seeded UT Martin.

Prier's second hit of the night and the 37th home run of her career may have been the biggest one she's connected on. With the score tied 4-4 in the final frame, the senior from Raleigh, N.C., turned UTM reliever Kate Vanderham's 2-2 pitch into a tape-measure homer to right. The blast pushed Prier past Rachel Countryman in third place on the school's career homers list and pushed the Gamecocks (29-17) into Saturday's 1:30 p.m. title game.

The Skyhawks (46-10) fall into the loser's bracket and will have to win on Saturday morning to get to JSU and would have to defeat the Gamecocks twice to win the tourney. JSU now must win once more to earn its third-straight berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Prier, who went 2-for-3 in the game, wasn't the only Gamecock senior to have a big night at the plate, as outfielder Hillary Downs went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBI to lead a 12-hit attack for JSU. Senior outfielder Mary Beth Ledbetter singled in all three of her at bats to improve to 5-for-6 on the tournament. Sophomore Kaycee Crow was 2-for-3, while junior Amanda Crow went 1-for-3 with a RBI.

Junior Ashley Eliassson (20-7) went the distance for the Gamecocks for the second consecutive day to win her 15th-straight decision. The junior from Vallejo, Calif., surrendered four runs on five hits and four walks. She struck out two and tossed 101 pitches to defeat the league's top offense.

UTM starter and OVC Pitcher of the Year Paij Lintz surrendered four runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings of work and gave way to Vanderham (15-3), who settled in before taking the tough-luck loss. She held JSU to one run, Prier's game winner, on six hits through 4 1/3 innings. She fanned five batters and walked one.

The Gamecocks got a run in the second on Downs' homer, a solo shot to left center and her team-leading 10th of the year. They stretched that lead to 4-0 with a three-run third that was highlighted by Downs' double, a two-run blast to right center that scored Kelci Johnston and Sallie Beth Burch. Amanda Crow followed Downs with an RBI single to cap the inning.

The Skyhawks wasted no time in clawing back into the game. They pulled to within one on a three-run homer by Jenny Bain in the home half of the third, then used a leadoff shot from Megan Van Arsdale to tie it at 4-4 in the fourth.

Eliasson and Vanderham settled in from there, throwing zeros onto the scoreboard until Prier's one-out winner in the seventh.

A JSU win on Saturday would send the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time and the third time in as many years. The Gamecocks' action on Saturday will be carried live on the JSU Radio Network.