JACKSONVILLE – Valparaiso scored 12 runs through the first three innings to avoid a Jacksonville State sweep with a 14-4 win on Sunday at Rudy Abbott Field.

The Gamecocks (2-1) posted a pair of come-from-behind wins over the Crusaders on Friday and Saturday, but could not solve Valpo right hander Mario Losi until the sixth inning.  Losi (1-0) limited Jax State to a pair of hits – both by sophomore Clayton Daniel, through his first five innings of work.  Daniel finished the day 3-for-4 with an RBI.  The Guntersville, Alabama product extended his hitting streak to 12 games dating back to the final nine contests of last year and pushed his consecutive games on-base streak to 25 games.

Sophomore Colton Pate (0-1), who came to JSU after one season at Central Alabama Community College, got the start on the mound against the Crusaders.  The Lincoln, Alabama right hander got the first two Valpo hitters with ease, but he opened the door for a big inning after a he had a throwing error.  The Crusaders took advantage as they would go on to touch Pate for three runs in the frame.  After Valpo loaded the bases with a walk and a single, Shea Molitor's bases-clearing double to left and gave the visitors from Indiana an early 3-0 lead.

Molitor turned in stellar day at the plate with five RBI and three hits, including the first inning double. 

Valpo's third inning mirrored the same inning in Saturday's contest as it would plate eight runs off of seven hits and was aided by a pair of Gamecock fielding miscues in the inning.  Jeff Edwards drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle off of Pate.  After a JSU pitching change, Valpo's James Stea greeted Michael McCreless with a two-run home run to left field.  Edwards and Josh Clark each had two RBIs in the win. 

All four of Jax State's runs came in the sixth inning off of Losi.  Losi led off the frame hitting inserted shortstop Josh Bobo, followed by freshman Nicholas Gaddis' first career hit as he got the start behind the plate in the final game of the series.  Gaddis, a newcomer from Trenton, Georgia, added another hit later in the contest for a multiple hit debut.   After senior Chase SIlvani reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, Daniel lifted a ball to right center to drive in Bobo for JSU's first run of the game.  Senior Paschal Petrongolo registered the lone JSU extra base hit with an RBI double down the left field line.  Senior Ty Pierce closed out the scoring with an RBI single to left.

After the first three innings, the JSU pitching staff settled in and allowed single runs in the fifth and seventh.  JSU sent five pitchers to the bump in the contest and totaled 11 strike outs in the contest.  Junior Nate Sylvester tossed three innings and allowed a run on three hits, while Dalton Etheridge and Justin Hoyt pitched the eighth and ninth respectively.

After opening the season at home against Valpo, the Gamecocks will be on the road for the next five games, beginning Wednesday, February 23 in Birmingham against the Blazers of UAB.  First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Regions Park.  JSU will visit Kennesaw State next weekend for a three-game series with the Owls.