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MOBILE, Ala. – In the final game of the 2017 season-opening Sand Dollar Classic, HBU dropped a decision to Jacksonville State, 10-2, to post a 2-2 record in the tournament.
 
HBU (2-2) fell behind early after a two-out RBI single by the Gamecocks' (4-1) Stephanie Lewis made it 1-0 at the end of the first. The Huskies evened things up in the top of the third after Libby Brown led off with a single, followed by Heidi Jaquez reaching base on a sacrifice bunt, putting two runners on with nobody out. Brown and Jaquez advanced to second and third on a wild pitch with one out and Nicole Shedd brought Brown home with an RBI groundout to short.
 
The bottom half of third is when the Gamecocks did most of their damage. Hayley Sims brought a pair of runs home with a double to left center. Later in the inning, with two outs, Emily Woodruff drove a grand slam over the wall to left to give Jacksonville State a 7-1 lead.
 
In the top of the fourth, HBU's Cecilia Bauer reached on an error before moving up to second on a wild pitch. After a Brooke Bushman sacrifice bunt advanced her to third a Kassie James groundout to third plated Bauer. The Gamecocks pushed two more across in the fifth and one in the sixth for the 10-2 final.
 
Brown picked up her first two hits of the season, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Shedd was 1-for-3 in the game with her third double of the season and one RBI.
 
Emily Mueller (1-1) suffered the loss in the circle for the Huskies, giving up seven runs, just two earned, on seven hits in two and two-third innings. Stephanie Buenrostro threw the final three innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts and zero walks.
 
HBU returns to Houston for their next four games, beginning Wednesday, Feb. 15, when the Huskies travel across town to take on the Houston Cougars at Cougar Stadium with first pitch at 5:30 p.m.