MURRAY, Ky. – It was an historic night at Murray State's Reagan Field on Thursday, but Jacksonville State spoiled the evening with a 4-1 win in the first game of the three-game series against the Racers.

Thursday's contest was the first-ever game played under the lights in the history of the Racers' program.  After an afternoon rainstorm, the skies cleared for the monumental contest that saw a pair of pitchers dueling it out.  The win was JSU's 11^th in the last 14 games and improved to 17-9 overall and 6-4 in the OVC.  MSU dropped to 12-18 on the season and 7-6 against league foes.

JSU's Zachary Fowler challenged the Ohio Valley Conference's Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Brock Downey pitch-for-pitch for six innings.  Fowler was able to pitch with a lead and escape trouble in his outing after the Gamecocks finally touched Downey for the first time.  Jax State's first hit off the lefthander came off the bat of freshman catcher Hayden White, who sent one over the right center fence in the third to stake Fowler to the lead.  Fowler allowed just one hit and struck out four in the contest.  He allowed three free passes, but those did not come back to haunt him.  Fowler moved to 5-2 on the season and has won his last three OVC outings.

The lone hit given up by Fowler was a big one as the Racers cut JSU's 2-0 lead in half with a solo home run by Matthew Johnson in the fifth. MSU put the run on the board after falling behind 2-0 after the Gamecocks plated a two-out run after a double just inside the third base line by Ryan Sebra.  Clayton Daniel led off the fourth with a single.

JSU would nurse the one-run lead the rest of the way as Downey tossed a solid 8.2 innings.  He fanned a career-high 13 Gamecocks and threw over 142 pitches.  JSU started to get contact on him throughout the game and the big hit came in the ninth as Elliot McCummings gave JSU a pair of insurance runs in the last at bat.  McCummings belted a two-run blast just to the left of the centerfield wall for his second home run of the season.

After Joe McGuire pitched a pair of scoreless frames, senior closer Travis Stout pitched a perfect ninth to record his eighth save of the season and pushed his career saves number to 40 in a JSU uniform.  He now ranks eighth all-time in NCAA history with his 40^th career save.

Game two of the three-game series is set for Friday evening at newly-lit Reagan Field.  First pitch is set for 6 p.m.  The game will be available on the OVC Digital Network and the Gamecock Sports Network.