2008 Woodie Awards
2nd-place Morehead takes two of three from softball team on milestone weekend
Jared Gravette
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Sports
After breezing through the early portion of their OVC schedule, the Jacksonville State softball team met their match last weekend against Morehead State.
The Gamecocks (25-11, 14-3 OVC), who entered the weekend ranked ninth nationally in scoring, struggled to score runs all weekend, dropping two of three against the Eagles.
In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, JSU took the field for the 1000th time, looking to win the program's 600th game. However, the Gamecocks would have to wait, as Alex Gjevre silenced their bats in a 2-0 Eagle victory.
Gjever pitched all seven innings for Morehead, striking out eight and allowing only three hits. With the win, the Eagles snapped JSU's 12-game OVC win streak.
"She (Gjever) is probably the best pitcher in the OVC as far as spotting her pitches. She is very smart, and she kept us off-balance like any good pitcher does," JSU coach Jana McGinnis said. "The very first game we played against her, I thought we were very passive as hitters. We were letting her get the early strikes, and then we were not battling with two strikes."
The Gamecocks would record their 600th win in the nightcap of the doubleheader, defeating the Eagles 3-2. The milestone victory comes in the programs' 21st season and its 14th in Division I.
"It's nice. It's nice because I can remember when they played their first game, and now I've been around to see their 1000th game," McGinnis said. "I was a basketball player here when they played their first game and I had friends on the team, so I can remember seeing their first game. It's just good to have been around and been a part of that and to see how the program has grown."
JSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning of the nightcap after a Jackie Jarman RBI double and a Chrissy O'Neal RBI single. The Gamecocks would add another run in the fifth on a Rachel Fleming home run.
Melissa Dowling pitched a gem through the sixth inning only allowing one hit, but the Eagles fought back, putting up two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
After cutting the deficit to one, Morehead's Courtney Seiler came to the plate with the winning run at first but fouled out to end the game.
Dowling pitched all seven innings for the Gamecocks, earning her 16th win of the season.
Morehead took the final game of the series 5-1 on Sunday, pulling themselves within two and a half games of the first-place Gamecocks.
The Eagles sent Gjevre to the circle once again. JSU hitters did a much better job the second time around but couldn't come through with runners in scoring position.
Gjevre pitched 14 innings over the weekend, allowing only one run on nine hits. She recorded both wins for the Eagles and was named OVC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts.
"On Sunday, we did a better job, but we just couldn't come up with the big hit," McGinnis said. "We had runners in scoring position in every inning but the third and the seventh. So, we were getting runners on. We just couldn't come up with that big hit.
"That was very frustrating and very disappointing because we've got hitters one-through-nine that I expect to come up with those big hits," McGinnis added. "I thought Jackie Jarman and Whitney Elder played very good. We just didn't have enough players that had good weekends."
JSU lone run of Sunday's tilt came on a Jarman double in the top of the fifth inning.
The Gamecocks split a doubleheader with Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, leaving McGinnis just one win away from 500 for her career.
"Honestly, it (winning my 500th) will just make me proud of all of the players that I've had the opportunity to coach," McGinnis said. "Honestly, I couldn't imagine myself, 10 years ago, being around to see 500 wins. I've been very lucky to coach players that want to win.
"I'm not into 500 wins. If I felt it was time to go, if I couldn't do this job and get this program where it needed to be, I'd quit at 499. It's not about me and it's not about the wins. It's about the program."
Softball review
The Gamecocks have been nothing short of dominant in Ohio Valley Conference play this year.
After splitting a two-game series with Tennessee Tech, the Gamecocks won their next 12 OVC contests before falling to Morehead State last weekend.
JSU has nine conference games remaining on the schedule against the trio of Eastern Illinois, Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri State. EIU is the only team in the group with a winning percentage above .500 against OVC opponents.
With the Gamecocks already up 2.5 games in the standings and the toughest part of their schedule behind them, they should cruise to a regular season title.
It appears that Morehead State might pose the biggest threat to knock off JSU in the OVC tournament behind the arm of Alex Gjevre.
However, the Gamecocks always seem to find a way to win when their backs are against the wall.
Nikki Prier, Allie Barker, Rachel Fleming and Chrissy O'Neal have been clutch performers all season long, and they should be hoisting the OVC championship trophy in mid-May.
The Gamecocks (25-11, 14-3 OVC), who entered the weekend ranked ninth nationally in scoring, struggled to score runs all weekend, dropping two of three against the Eagles.
In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, JSU took the field for the 1000th time, looking to win the program's 600th game. However, the Gamecocks would have to wait, as Alex Gjevre silenced their bats in a 2-0 Eagle victory.
Gjever pitched all seven innings for Morehead, striking out eight and allowing only three hits. With the win, the Eagles snapped JSU's 12-game OVC win streak.
"She (Gjever) is probably the best pitcher in the OVC as far as spotting her pitches. She is very smart, and she kept us off-balance like any good pitcher does," JSU coach Jana McGinnis said. "The very first game we played against her, I thought we were very passive as hitters. We were letting her get the early strikes, and then we were not battling with two strikes."
The Gamecocks would record their 600th win in the nightcap of the doubleheader, defeating the Eagles 3-2. The milestone victory comes in the programs' 21st season and its 14th in Division I.
"It's nice. It's nice because I can remember when they played their first game, and now I've been around to see their 1000th game," McGinnis said. "I was a basketball player here when they played their first game and I had friends on the team, so I can remember seeing their first game. It's just good to have been around and been a part of that and to see how the program has grown."
JSU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning of the nightcap after a Jackie Jarman RBI double and a Chrissy O'Neal RBI single. The Gamecocks would add another run in the fifth on a Rachel Fleming home run.
Melissa Dowling pitched a gem through the sixth inning only allowing one hit, but the Eagles fought back, putting up two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
After cutting the deficit to one, Morehead's Courtney Seiler came to the plate with the winning run at first but fouled out to end the game.
Dowling pitched all seven innings for the Gamecocks, earning her 16th win of the season.
Morehead took the final game of the series 5-1 on Sunday, pulling themselves within two and a half games of the first-place Gamecocks.
The Eagles sent Gjevre to the circle once again. JSU hitters did a much better job the second time around but couldn't come through with runners in scoring position.
Gjevre pitched 14 innings over the weekend, allowing only one run on nine hits. She recorded both wins for the Eagles and was named OVC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts.
"On Sunday, we did a better job, but we just couldn't come up with the big hit," McGinnis said. "We had runners in scoring position in every inning but the third and the seventh. So, we were getting runners on. We just couldn't come up with that big hit.
"That was very frustrating and very disappointing because we've got hitters one-through-nine that I expect to come up with those big hits," McGinnis added. "I thought Jackie Jarman and Whitney Elder played very good. We just didn't have enough players that had good weekends."
JSU lone run of Sunday's tilt came on a Jarman double in the top of the fifth inning.
The Gamecocks split a doubleheader with Middle Tennessee on Tuesday, leaving McGinnis just one win away from 500 for her career.
"Honestly, it (winning my 500th) will just make me proud of all of the players that I've had the opportunity to coach," McGinnis said. "Honestly, I couldn't imagine myself, 10 years ago, being around to see 500 wins. I've been very lucky to coach players that want to win.
"I'm not into 500 wins. If I felt it was time to go, if I couldn't do this job and get this program where it needed to be, I'd quit at 499. It's not about me and it's not about the wins. It's about the program."
Softball review
The Gamecocks have been nothing short of dominant in Ohio Valley Conference play this year.
After splitting a two-game series with Tennessee Tech, the Gamecocks won their next 12 OVC contests before falling to Morehead State last weekend.
JSU has nine conference games remaining on the schedule against the trio of Eastern Illinois, Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri State. EIU is the only team in the group with a winning percentage above .500 against OVC opponents.
With the Gamecocks already up 2.5 games in the standings and the toughest part of their schedule behind them, they should cruise to a regular season title.
It appears that Morehead State might pose the biggest threat to knock off JSU in the OVC tournament behind the arm of Alex Gjevre.
However, the Gamecocks always seem to find a way to win when their backs are against the wall.
Nikki Prier, Allie Barker, Rachel Fleming and Chrissy O'Neal have been clutch performers all season long, and they should be hoisting the OVC championship trophy in mid-May.
— Jared Gravette
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