TUCSON, Ariz.  (uj.edu)  — The 24th-ranked University of Jamestown softball team opened play at the Tucson Invitational Games with wins in four of their first six games, including a 5-4 victory over No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan University.

Jamestown split their doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday before picking up two wins on Monday, pushing their overall record this season to 10-5.

SATURDAY
Jamestown 5, Indiana Wesleyan 4 
Kat Miska (SO/Pequot Lakes, MN) tied the UJ single-game record with 14 strikeouts as the Jimmies held off a late Indiana Wesleyan comeback bid to start the Arizona trip with a 5-4 victory.

Sydney Prussia (SO/Detroit Lakes, MN) and Meghan Ramage (SR/Grand Forks, ND) each had a pair of hits and drove in two runs.

Miska became the third Jimmie pitcher to strike out 14 hitters in a game, joining Tamara Rodgers (1998) and Hanna Dunnigan, who accomplished the feat in both the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Siena Heights (Mich.) 9, Jamestown 1 (5 innings)
The Jimmie offense mustered just one hit and one run in a 9-1, five-inning loss to Siena Heights in Saturday’s second game.

Siena Heights led 3-0 before Meghan Ramage‘s RBI single cut the lead to 3-1 in the fourth. The Saints then put up six in the bottom of the fifth to end the game via the eight-run rule.

SUNDAY
Saint Francis (Ill.) 5, Jamestown 4
A UJ rally came up just short against 15th-ranked Saint Francis (Ill.) on Sunday. Mariah Martinez (FR/Visalia, Calif.) gave the Jimmies a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the second.

Saint Francis plated five runs in the top of the fifth to go ahead 5-1. In the bottom of the sixth, Miriah Yoder (SR/Devils Lake, ND) doubled home a run to make it 5-2, then Martinez later drove in another run, cutting the deficit to 5-3.

Jamestown had the tying run at second base following Kassi Ward (SO/Olympia, WA)’s RBI double, but was unable to get a two-out hit to extend the game. The Jimmies managed 12 hits, with Martinez and Morgan Geiszler (SO/Horace, ND) each getting three. Morgan Flann (SO/Lake Lillian, MN) was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

Jamestown 4, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 1
Steph Cota (FR/Tucson, Ariz.), Meghan Ramage, and Mariah Martinez all had run-scoring singles as the Jimmies broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the bottom of the fifth against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)

Katie Merchant (FR/South Haven, Minn.) went the distance in the circle, allowing one run on two hits while striking out five.

Martinez was 3-for-3 while Allie McCain (SR/Duvall, WA), Miriah Yoder, Morgan Geiszler, Santina Zito (FR/Boise, Idaho), and Hailey Sandoval (JR/Lake Stevens, Wash.) also had hits for the Jimmies.

MONDAY
Jamestown 8, Benedictine (Kan.) 7 (8 innings)
Down 6-2 after four innings, the Jimmies rallied with two runs in the fifth and three in the seventh to force extra innings against Benedictine (Kan.)

Allie McCain came home on a groundout by Morgan Geiszler in the top of the eighth for the eventual game-winning run.

Kassi Ward hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to stake the Jimmies to an early 2-0 lead. Benedictine answered with one run in the second and four more in the third, then added single runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings.

Katie Reisdorfer (SO/Fresno, CA) had a two-run single in the top of the fifth to make it a 6-4 game. After Benedictine tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth, Morgan Flann doubled home Ward in the top of the seventh to cut the lead to 7-5. An error by the Benedictine catcher allowed Reisdorfer and Flann to score on the play, tying the contest at seven.

Jamestown 13, Madonna (Mich.) 5 (5 innings)
After going into extra innings in Monday’s first game, the Jimmies ended their game against Madonna early.

UJ took a 10-0 lead after three innings, then added three more in the top of the fifth in recording its highest run total yet this season.

Morgan Geiszler was 3-for-4 with three runs scored while Santina Zito and Mariah Martinez each recorded a pair of hits.

Martinez, Kassi Ward, Steph Cota, and Katie Reisdorfer all knocked in two runs. Meghan Ramage drove in another with a solo home run and Lorigan Steuben (FR/Yacolt, Wash.) plated another for the Jimmies.

Kat Miska tossed a complete game, striking out five over five innings. She gave up three earned runs on five hits and walked four.

Jamestown is back in action Tuesday with a 10 a.m. contest against Waldorf (Iowa), then will face Missouri Valley College at 12 p.m.