MARTIN, Tenn. – For the 12^th consecutive season Jacksonville State will be in the six-team field for the 2015 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament next week as JSU held on for a 13-12 win over UT Martin on Friday afternoon at Skyhawk Field.

JSU needed two wins entering the final weekend of the regular season to clinch a spot in the field as it stands at 15-14 in the OVC and 29-25 overall.  The Gamecocks will go for its third sweep of the season and second straight on the road on Saturday at 12 p.m.  UTM and JSU were scheduled to play a twinbill on Friday to get ahead of the pending rain on Saturday, but thunderstorms in the West Tennessee area prevented the two clubs from finishing up the three game series.  UTM (17-35, 9-20 OVC) will honor its senior class prior to Saturday's contest.

The Skyhawks pushed JSU to its limits on Friday after nearly erasing an 11-2 deficit before falling a run short of extending the game.  It wasn't the cleanest game for the two squads as they combined for eight errors and both pitching staffs gave up 37 hits and 25 runs.  Defensive woes plagued UTM in one inning as the Gamecocks squelched a 1-0 Skyhawk lead in the third inning.  Jax State posted seven runs on five hits and was gifted four times in the inning as UTM had four fielding miscues in the inning. 

The big hit in the JSU third was a three-run blast by junior Elliot McCummings after the Gamecocks had plated four runs in the frame.  JSU touched UTM starter Carter Smith for 10 runs on nine hits in his five innings of work.  Junior Gavin Golsan had one of his two RBI in the big inning with a single to the left side of the infield.  Golsan matched freshman Taylor Hawthorne with a team-high three hits in the win.  The Trussville, Alabama-native also established a new JSU single season for stolen bases as he now has 37 steals in 2015.  Junior Paschal Petrongolo and Tyler Gamble also delivered RBI in the inning with a sacrifice fly and a single respectively.  Petrongolo finished the day with three runs driven in on just one hit, which would come in the next inning with an RBI double. 

JSU's other two runs in the three-run fourth scored on senior Ryan Sebra's base hit up the middle, scoring Petrongolo and Daniel.  The Gamecocks posted their 11^th run of the contest in the sixth on Petrongolo's third RBI as he plated Golsan.

Jax State found its Saturday starter midway through the conference season in freshman Jake Walsh and the Melbourne, Florida-right hander delivered another quality start for JSU.  Walsh worked around early trouble in all five innings he was on the mound as UTM turned in leadoff singles off of Walsh, but could not produce anything until the sixth. 

Walsh ran in to trouble in the sixth and it started with the long ball.  The first three Skyhawks to come to the plate in the sixth delivered solo shots over the wall to begin a six-run sixth.  In the inning, UTM strung together six hits and took advantage of two JSU errors for the big inning and cut the deficit to 11-8.  UTM carded another home run in the eighth off of JSU's Justin Hoyt to trim the Gamecock lead to 11-9 heading in to the JSU ninth.

Needing insurance runs, JSU pushed the lead to 13-9 with four runs in the final at bat.  Hawthorne delivered an RBI single and Peyton Williams scored on a ground out.

JSU senior closer Travis came in to get the final two outs of the eighth and worked around trouble in the ninth.  The Skyhawks belted their sixth home run in the last four innings with a three-run home run off the bat of Taylor Douglas to cut the lead to 13-12 before a Stout strike out sealed the win.  It was Stout's 13th save of the season.

The win not only secured JSU's spot in the postseason, it also was Jim Case's 450^th career win.  Last season, he reached the 400 career wins mark at Eastern Illinois.  He ranks third among OVC coaches in career wins.

Saturday's regular season finale and series finale can be heard on the Gamecock Sports Network with air time at 11:45 a.m.