FINAL STATS

LAKELAND, Fla. – Billy Anderson and Matt Faiman each had three hits to lead Central Michigan to a 7-3 win over Jacksonville State in the Russ Matt Invitational on Saturday.

Dan Taylor (2-2) scattered five hits in eight solid innings on the mound to earn the win. JSU's Jason Zylstra (1-2) gave up five hits in 5 1/3 innings and walked six to get stuck with the loss for the Gamecocks.

JSU's Blake Seguin finished 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games, while Jake Welch also finished with a pair of hits to lead the Gamecocks.

Central Michigan took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning after Tyler Kipke led off with a single to left field and Reid Rooney reached on the first of three Gamecock errors. Both players moved up on a sacrifice bunt and came in to score when Anderson singled down the right field line.

The Chippewas scored three more in the sixth inning when Reid Rooney walked and moved to third on an error. Dale Cornstubble laid down a sacrifice bunt and was able to reach and move to second on a JSU throwing error, which allowed Rooney to score. Anderson followed with a single to right field to score Cornstubble and then Faiman had a RBI single to score Anderson and push the lead to 5-0.

Jax State scored a run in the seventh inning when Kyle Bluestein led off with a double to left center and moved to third on a deep fly ball. Matt McLaughlin had a RBI infield grounder that cut the lead to 5-1.

The Chippewas added two insurance runs in the eighth inning when Anderson reached on a two-out walk and Rhett Goodmiller hit a two-run home run over the left field fence to extend the lead to 7-1.

The Gamecocks scored their final two runs in the top of the ninth inning after relief pitcher Chris Kupillas walked Heath Wall and then hit Kyle Bluestein before Welch singled to right center. Andrew Edge drove in Wall with an infield grounder and Seguin followed with a RBI single down the third baseline for the final margin.

Jacksonville State returns to action on Sunday when Ben Tootle (2-0, 1.20 ERA) will face Indiana at 11:30 a.m.