JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State baseball team grounded Air Force 6-0 to claim its sixth consecutive win on Friday evening in the weekend series opener at Rudy Abbott Field.
The win pushes the Gamecocks' overall mark to 15-8 on the season and they have now won nine of their last 11 games dating back to the SIU Edwardsville weekend series. The Falcons dropped their season's overall mark to 9-15 and have now lost five in a row. The shutout was the first of the season for Jax State and the first shutout for the Red and White since March 1, 2014 against Kennesaw State.
The highlight of the night was the stellar outing by senior right hander
Zachary Fowler. Fowler tossed seven complete innings, which matches his season high and established a new career high in strike outs with eight in the outing and allowed just two walks. The Daphne, Alabama-native worked out trouble in the opening frame as the AFA loaded the bases with two down and got a ground ball to end the threat. After a second inning single by Shaun Mize, Fowler would retire the next 15 batters and shut down the Falcons' bats. The AFA finished with just three hits in the contest and the third came in the eighth off of JSU's
Graham Officer. Fowler moved to 4-2 on the season with the win.
The Gamecocks' offensive attack came in the second and the third as they plated the first two runs in the second and three in the fourth. Junior
Paul Angel, who led Jax State with three hits on the night, started a trio of doubles for the Gamecocks with one to left center. Junior
Elliot McCummings had the second double down the right field line to score Angel. McCummings scored on
Hayden White's smash to center. The double in the fourth was the first of two multiple bases hits for the freshman from Prattville, Alabama. The catcher connected on his second home run of the second in his second straight game with a solo blast to right center in the sixth to close out the scoring for JSU.
JSU turned in a three spot in the fourth as it recorded three hits and took advantage of two Falcon miscues. Angel sparked the inning with his second double of the night, followed by an RBI sacrifice fly by White. After back-to-back singles by
Josh Bobo and
Gavin Golsan to load the bases,
Clayton Daniel received an RBI via a walk. Golsan finished with a pair of hits in the Friday win.
The weekend series continues on Saturday with the second game set for Saturday at 1 p.m.
Admission is free for JSU students and fans ages 18 and under. It will also be Military Appreciation Weekend, where all active military and veterans will receive free admission for them and their families at all three games.
