BOX SCORE

JACKSONVILLE – Joe McGuire's second RBI single of the night scored Griff Gordon in the bottom of the 10th inning and gave the Jacksonville State baseball team a 2-1 walkoff win and the season sweep of Troy on Wednesday night at Rudy Abbott Field.
 
The freshman drove in the Gamecocks (22-17) first run in the sixth inning and then came through with the dramatic game winner four innings later to cap a 3-for-5 night against the in-state rival Trojans (20-22). After Troy reliever Jeremy McGowan walked Stephen Bartlett to bring up the Oxford, Ala., native with two outs and runners at the corners, McGuire lined his 1-2 fastball into left field to score Gordon and force his teammates to chase him down for a celebration on the basepaths.
 
Gordon set the game winner up with his leadoff single in the first extra frame of the night, the first time JSU had the leadoff man on in the game. On the other side of the scorecard, Troy had the leadoff man on base seven times and in each of the last six innings. The eight JSU pitchers that saw action in the game stranded 10 Trojans runners, including six in scoring position. The win gives JSU its first season sweep of Troy since 1993.
 
Troy used a little small ball to break a scoreless tie in the third, when a Clay Holcomb leadoff grounder up the middle gave Troy its first hit of the game. Adam Tewksbury bunted him to second. Holcomb then stole third and scored on a Peyton Fuller groundout to second to give Troy a 1-0 lead.
 
The Gamecocks had a few opportunities but couldn't get a run across until the sixth, when a one-out Sebra double missed getting over the left field wall by about two feet. The two-bagger gave JSU its first baserunner with less than two outs in the game.
 
It paid off for the Gamecocks, when Joe McGuire's two-out grounder found the hole up the middle and scored Sebra from second to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Troy continued to get the leadoff man on, including three leadoff walks from JSU pitchers in the final four innings, but the Trojans couldn't get one across. Two walks led off the Trojan seventh, but Jo-El Bennett was picked off at first by Ryan Sebra and then Holcomb was hit by a two-out grounder to end that Trojan threat.
 
The ninth saw Gamecock closer Travis Stout walk Nick Masonia and then throw it down the right field line trying to retire Bennett after his sac bunt attempt, but Gordon got to the ball in foul territory and threw out Masonia at the plate to get the first out and preserve the tie. Stout then struck out Holcomb and forced Tyler Vaughn to ground out to end the inning.
 
The Trojans used another leadoff walk and their fifth sac bunt of the night to put leadoff batter Peyton Fuller on second with one out, but Tony Urban struck out Trevin Hall and got Matthew Howard to fly out to center to keep it tied headed to the bottom of the 10th.
 
Gordon got the game winning rally going with his leadoff single on McGowan's 2-2 pitch and then moved to second on a sac bunt from Tyler Gamble, JSU's first of the night. McGowan intentionally walked Bartlett with two outs but let his first pitch sail on catcher Austin Sullivan for a wild pitch that allowed Gordon to move to third to set up McGuire's winner.
 
Urban (1-2) grabbed the win in one scoreless inning of relief that saw him walk one and strike out one, while McGowan (3-5) took the loss after giving up a run on three hits and a walk in 1.2 innings on the mound.
 
Casey Antley started the game for JSU and held Troy to a run on two hits, while striking out five in four innings of work. Trojan starter Levi Tate tossed six innings and allowed a run on seven hits, also striking out five.
 
The Gamecocks host Ohio Valley Conference leader Southeast Missouri this weekend in a three-game series at Rudy Abbott Field. It starts with a 6 p.m. game on Friday and continues with a 1 p.m. game on Saturday and a 1 p.m. start on Sunday. Admission is free for JSU students and fans ages 18 and under.