JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State mounted a pair of comebacks on Sunday to complete a weekend sweep of Belmont with a 15-9 win at Rudy Abbott Field.

Junior first baseman Tyler Gamble's three-run blast in the sixth capped a six-run sixth for Jax State as the home run erased an 8-4 lead that the Bruins put together in the first four innings.  The Gamecocks used the long ball in the contest as Gamble's round tripper was just one of three hit by JSU.  Senior Ryan Sebra gave JSU a quick 4-2 lead in third with a grand slam to left field.  It was the first grand slam hit by a Gamecock since Sam Eberle cleared the bases against Austin Peay on April 29, 2012.  Sebra was not finished connecting on home runs as he followed Gamble's blast with another home run to left to give JSU a 12-9 lead and an advantage that it would not relinquish thanks to great relief pitching by Graham Officer.  Officer threw 4.2 innings and settled down the Bruins offense.  He allowed six hits and posted five strikeouts. All but two BU runs were earned, including six unearned runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8-4 lead.

The last time JSU had back-to-back home runs was during the 2012 season as former standouts Ben Waldrip and Kyle Bluestein went yard against Auburn on May 15.  It was the third time this season that JSU had two home runs in the same inning and the second time this season that the Gamecocks pushed across double digit runs.  JSU won a 12-8 game at Austin Peay back on March 16.

It was a much-needed three-game sweep of a conference opponent as the Gamecocks have moved back in to contention for one of the six OVC Tournament bids with three weekends left in the regular season.  JSU improved to 23-20 overall and 10-11 in OVC play.  The Bruins fell to 21-21 on the season and 10-10 in the league.  BU has dropped its last three conference series dating back to the Austin Peay series in early April.

With an 8-4 deficit, JSU crawled back in to the contest with a pair of runs in the fourth on a pair of RBI from Taylor Hawthorne and Gavin Golsan.  Hawthorne finished with three hits to lead all Gamecock hitters.  Golsan scored and reached base three times.  Golsan keyed the six-run sixth with a double down the left field line to chase BU's Dom Veltri. 

For the weekend, JSU batted .321 and collected 34 hits against Bruin pitching, including 15 extra base hits.  The Gamecocks had eight doubles, five home runs and a pair of triples in the three-game series.  The JSU pitching staff had a solid week after blanking South Alabama on Tuesday; the hurlers had a composite earned run average of 2.60 for the five games and tallied 45 strikeouts to just 14 walks.  Belmont, one of the top hitting teams in the league was held to a .245 batting average and finished with 10 earned runs in the three-game series.

BU's leadoff man Drew Ferguson turned in a solid day at the plate in the setback going 4-for-5 and a pair of RBI.  Tyler Ferguson drove in four runs, including a two-run home run in the first inning.

The Gamecocks, who have now won four of their last five, will take a trip to Normal, Alabama on Tuesday to face the Bulldogs of Alabama A&M.  First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on the AAMU campus.  JSU travels to Eastern Kentucky next weekend to resume OVC action.