FINAL STATS
 
JACKSONVILLE – Senior Sam Eberle had five hits and Kyle Bluestein drove in four runs as Jacksonville State claimed an 8-6 win over Tennessee Tech as the Gamecocks won their fifth straight Ohio Valley Conference series on Saturday.
 
Todd Hornsby (2-3) allowed just two hits over the final 2 1/3 innings to earn the win in relief for the Gamecocks, while Seth Lucio (1-2) got stuck with the loss for the Golden Eagles.
 
Jax State (12-18, 6-3 OVC) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning after Eberle and Ben Waldrip reached on back-to-back two-out singles and Bluestein then slugged a 3-run home run over the center field fence to give the Gamecocks the early lead. Bluestein extended his hitting streak to a team-high 13 games, while Eberle has now hit in 10 straight games.
 
Tech got a run in the second on a RBI triple by Zephan Guyear to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Gamecocks answered with a run in the third inning after Eberle led off with a solo home run and then Michael Bishop drove in a run with a RBI double in the fourth inning to extend to lead to 5-1.
 
Tennessee Tech (13-17, 5-4) then added a run in the sixth inning on after Zach Stephens hit a solo home run and the Golden Eagles then added four runs in the seventh, highlighted by a 3-run home run by Stephens, to give Tech a 6-5 lead.
 
Jax State rallied to retake the lead in the home half of the seventh after Eberle scored on an Erik Underwood sacrifice fly, and Kyle Stone followed with a RBI single to score Bluestein and give the Gamecocks a 7-6 lead.
 
The Gamecocks added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a RBI single by Bluestein to score Eberle for the final margin.
 
It marked the second time in Eberle's career that he has recorded five hits and the first time since his sophomore season of 2010. Bluestein and Michael Bishop each had three hits, while Cal Lambert also had a pair of hits as the Gamecocks finished with 16 hits in the game.
 
Stephens, Guyear, Austin Wulf, and Michael Morris each had a pair of hits to lead Tennessee Tech.
 
Jacksonville State returns to action on Tuesday as the Gamecocks travel to face Troy. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at Riddle-Pace Field.