JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State's Zachary Fowler looked like he did in last season's Ohio Valley Conference Championship game on Friday night as he went a season-high 7.1 innings along with 13 Gamecock hits en route to an 8-6 win over Belmont at Rudy Abbott Field.

Fowler, who was an out away from matching his career-best outing – which was the championship contest last season, kept a prolific Bruins' offense off balance throughout the night and induced a couple of double play balls in the outing.  The Daphne, Alabama-righthander allowed just seven hits and gave up just three runs and matched his season-high in strikeouts with seven.  Fowler improved to 6-2 on the season.

JSU needed a performance like that out of its senior Friday night starter as it snapped a four-game Ohio Valley Conference losing streak and improved the league mark to 8-11 on the season.  The Gamecocks moved to a game over the .500 mark at 21-20.  The Bruins have now lost three of their last four league contests after dropping two to Eastern Illinois last weekend.

After Fowler was touched for an early run in the first inning and handed a 2-1 lead after JSU's first plate appearance, he did not allow a Bruin to cross the plate until the fifth.  By that time, Jax State put together six runs in the first three innings to take a 6-2 lead.  The Gamecocks built the lead with timely hitting, highlighted by junior Tyler Gamble's pair of doubles in back-to-back plate appearances.  Gamble  drove in the first JSU run of the game in the first with a double to left field.  The Alabaster, Alabama-product delivered another RBI double in the third.  Gamble and Paschal Petrongolo combined for six hits in eight at bats against the Bruins' starter, Dan Ludwig.  The 13 hits allowed by Ludwig is a season-high for him as he was chased in the sixth.  Ludwig fell to 3-4 on the year with the loss.

Senior Ryan Sebra also had success off Ludwig with a pair of hits that combined for three RBI on the night.  Sebra has now hit safely in 18 of the 19 OVC games this season.

BU's lone runs in the fifth and sixth trimmed the deficit to 6-4 entering the Gamecocks' half of the sixth.  Ludwig looked like he was going to escape the inning after two outs, but a throwing error opened the door for JSU to add two insurance runs.  Hayden White, who reached on a single, scored on the errant throw on a ball off of Clayton Daniel's bat.  Petrongolo drove in the eighth run with a double down the left field line.

The Bruins made things interesting in the ninth with three runs in the final frame.  The inning was highlighted by Nick Egli belting his second home run of the night to make it an 8-6 contest.  Egli was 3-for-4 with four RBI.

The Gamecocks and Bruins continue the OVC weekend series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. match up at Rudy Abbott Field.  Admission is free to all JSU students and fans 18 and under.