Sunday, March 8
Lynchburg, Va.
11:00 AM ET
Liberty University
7-15, 1-2
4
vs
6
Jacksonville State
16-8, 2-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Jacksonville St.
0
4
2
0
0
0
0
6
7
2
Liberty
0
0
2
1
0
1
0
4
10
2
Jax State Outlasts Liberty 6-4, Claims Series
3/8/2026 2:29:00 PM | Softball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Jacksonville State held off a furious Liberty rally, defeating the Lady Flames 6-4 to earn the series victory, Sunday at Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
The Gamecocks (16-8) opened Conference USA play with a 2-1 series win this weekend, while Liberty falls to 7-15, 1-2 in conference games.
Jacksonville State 6, Liberty 4
Scoring Summary
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Phillips doubles to right center, Davis scores, 1-0
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Elrod reaches on error, Cushingberry and Reed advance, Phillips scores, 2-0
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Nowakowski singles up the middle, Elrod advances, and Cushingberry and Reed score, 4-0
Jax State – 3rd INNING – Phillips homers to left, 5-0
Jax State – 3rd INNING – Nowakowski singles to left, Reed scores, Underwood out at home, 6-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Jessee homers to left, Carrasquillo scores, 6-2
Liberty – 4th INNING – Fox doubles to right, Whatley scores, 6-3
Liberty – 6th INNING – Strickland singles to right, advances on throw, Jessee advances, Whatley scores, 6-4
Turning Point
Liberty heads to the road for its next eight games, starting with a 4 p.m. contest at James Madison, Tuesday in Harrisonburg, Va.
The Gamecocks (16-8) opened Conference USA play with a 2-1 series win this weekend, while Liberty falls to 7-15, 1-2 in conference games.
Jacksonville State 6, Liberty 4
Scoring Summary
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Phillips doubles to right center, Davis scores, 1-0
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Elrod reaches on error, Cushingberry and Reed advance, Phillips scores, 2-0
Jax State – 2nd INNING – Nowakowski singles up the middle, Elrod advances, and Cushingberry and Reed score, 4-0
Jax State – 3rd INNING – Phillips homers to left, 5-0
Jax State – 3rd INNING – Nowakowski singles to left, Reed scores, Underwood out at home, 6-0
Liberty – 3rd INNING – Jessee homers to left, Carrasquillo scores, 6-2
Liberty – 4th INNING – Fox doubles to right, Whatley scores, 6-3
Liberty – 6th INNING – Strickland singles to right, advances on throw, Jessee advances, Whatley scores, 6-4
Turning Point
- Jax State capitalized on a pair of Liberty errors in a four-run second. The Gamecocks made it 6-0 with a bases-loaded single, but Paige Doerr fired home to erase Underwood at the plate. Later in the game, Liberty executed a successful relay from the outfield to keep Jax State at six runs.
- Liberty got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third on a two-run homer by Savannah Jessee. Single tallies in the fourth and sixth narrowed the gap to 6-4. Jaliyah Holmes came on with two outs and runners on second and third in the bottom of the sixth. Brynn McManus' grounder hit base runner Maci Strickland between second and third, ending the inning.
- Liberty led 9-7 in hits, with both teams committing two errors. The Lady Flames left 11 runners on base, compared to eight stranded by the Gamecocks.
- Jax State reliever Mackinley Portillo (4-4) earned the win, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits, walking one and fanning two in 2 2/3 innings. Holmes pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing one walk to nail down her first save of the season.
- Abigail Findlay (1-1) drew the loss, yielding two runs (one earned) on one hit, walking three and striking out one in one inning as the starter. Relievers Danner Allen, Camden Anders and Gabby Mike followed.
- Morgan Nowakowski went 3-for-3 with three RBI for Jax State. Ashley Phillips batted 2-for-4 with a double, homer, two RBI and two runs scored, while Amber Reed went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.
- Savannah Jessee batted 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and one run scored for Liberty, while Ella Fox went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Savanah Whatley batted 1-for-3 with two runs scored.
- Liberty is now 9-4 all-time against Jax State in softball, with the Lady Flames going 8-3 against the Gamecocks since joining Conference USA.
- Prior to this weekend, Liberty had won each of its first 17 Conference USA series since joining the conference prior to the 2024 season.
- Jessee recorded her second game this season with three or more hits. The first was a four-hit contest against Syracuse on Feb. 20.
- Today's game lasted two hours and 48 minutes. It was Liberty's longest seven-inning game since needing 3:02 at FGCU on April 15, 2022.
Liberty heads to the road for its next eight games, starting with a 4 p.m. contest at James Madison, Tuesday in Harrisonburg, Va.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mackinley Portillo (4-4)
L: Findlay, Abigail (1-1)
S: Jaliyah Holmes (1)
Batting:
2B: Makalyn Kyser 1 ; Ashley Phillips 1
HR: Ashley Phillips 1
RBI: Emma Elrod 1 ; Morgan Nowakowski 3 ; Ashley Phillips 2
SH: Jaci Underwood 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Aria Davis 1 ; Ashley Phillips 2 ; Amber Reed 2 ; Haleigh Cushingberry 1
Batting:
2B: Fox, Ella 1 ; Carrasquillo, Alexia 1
HR: Jessee, Savannah 1
RBI: Fox, Ella 1 ; Jessee, Savannah 2 ; Strickland, Maci 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Carrasquillo, Alexia 1 ; Jessee, Savannah 1 ; Whatley, Savanah 2
HBP: Byrum, JaMaya 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
P/UTL
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
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