GULF SHORES, Ala. – Jones College wrapped up a 3-2 weekend at the annual Sun Chief Classic by gifting head coach
Chris Robinson win No. 500 on Saturday.
Jones (5-4) split with Snead State and No. 12 Chattanooga State on Friday afternoon then knocked off Illinois Central, 8-4, in the first of three games on Saturday to help Robinson hit the 500-win milestone.
Robinson's the third-winningest coach in MACCC softball history behind retired coaches Kenneth Long of MGCCC (618) and Robert Eakins of Meridian (526). He's averaged nearly 40 wins per season in his 12 years as head coach.
Jones boosted its batting average by nearly 30 points over the two-day tournament while the pitching staff had a 3.06 ERA and 37 strikeouts against just six walks.
Snead State 7, Jones 0
Madison Wright tossed a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts to pitch the Lady Parsons to victory in Jones' first game of the tournament on Friday. Wright would throw a 17-strikeout no-hitter later in the weekend.
Snead broke open a 2-0 game in the fourth with a three-run home run by Chloe Chisenal and added two more in the sixth on Abigail Horn's RBI-single to right.
Taylor Duncan,
Carly Lewis and
Sydney Pevey had the three Bobcat hits.
Jones 5, Chattanooga State 4
The Bobcats rebounded from a shutout loss with an impressive victory over Chatt State, a regular in the NJCAA Division I World Series.
Nia Luckett scattered nine hits, two earned runs and eight strikeouts to improve to 2-1 in the circle.
Luckett's two-run double gave Jones a 2-1 lead in the third. After Chatt State tied it in the fourth, Pevey hit a two-run double to left center to put Jones on top for good.
Lindsay Henson had a big RBI-double in the sixth for an important insurance run.
Pevey and Luckett each went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. The top of the Tiger lineup was 6-for-12.
Jones 8, Illinois Central 4
Jones fell behind 3-0 on a Hillary Mason three-run home run in the second inning but rallied to tie it in the fourth on
Holly Craft's three-run blast and scored five more to wrap up No. 500 for Robinson.
Craft, who got the start and went the distance in the circle, has hit three home runs in three games. She struck out nine against no walks.
ICC regained the lead, 4-3, on an RBI-single in the fourth by Kelsey Gillette before the Bobcats ran off five unanswered runs.
Iris Farve tied the game on an RBI-double in the fifth and Lewis, who went 4-for-4, followed with a bases-clearing triple.
Gulf Coast State 3, Jones 2
A costly outfield error and untimely passed ball did the Bobcats in in a one-run loss to Gulf Coast State.
The Commodores scored in the first on the aforementioned error to take a 1-0 lead.
Jones tied it in the second on a double steal by Pevey and Lewis and took a 2-1 lead in the third on
Lauren Lindsey's infield single.
Emily Greek's sac fly tied the game again in the bottom of the third.
The Commodores rallied with two outs in the fifth to plate the eventual game-winning run. After Collier Peaden stole second, Cassidy Boltz hit a bloop single into shallow center to plate Peaden for the third run.
Jones went quietly in the sixth and seventh.
Luckett struck out nine and allowed one earned run on six hits in an unlucky decision.
Jones 9, Marion Military 1
Aaliyah Dixon went yard twice and Lindsey hit a homer in the fifth to help Jones make quick work of the Tigers in the final game of the tournament.
MMI struck first on an RBI-double in the first, but had just two hits the rest of the day.
Henson allowed three hits, one unearned run and struck out four in her first collegiate win.
Lewis' two-run single gave Jones a 2-1 lead in the third. Dixon homered in the fourth and fifth and Lindsey homered in the fifth to make it 7-1.
Mackenzie Jones was 2-for-3 behind Dixon's 2-for-3, four RBI game.
Jones will host Coastal Alabama-South and LSU Eunice on Wednesday, weather permitting, for the Bobcats' home-openers. The games will be carried live on JCJC.TV.
