JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State senior righthander Graham Officer gave himself a late birthday gift with a Friday night gem to lead JSU to a 6-1 series-opening win over Austin Peay at Rudy Abbott Field.

With the win, the Gamecocks remained perfect in Ohio Valley Conference play at 4-0, while the Governors suffered their first setback in league play at 3-1.  The two teams will continue the weekend series on Saturday at 1 p.m.  JSU is off to its best conference start since 2007 as that club started OVC play with back-to-back sweeps.

A day after his birthday, Officer quieted a hot-hitting Govs lineup for a career-high seven innings and allowed just one run and scattered five hits.  APSU's lone run off of Officer was a solo home run to right center in the third inning by Clayton Smithson.  Junior Nate Sylvester finished the final two frames and allowed two hits en route to a two-inning first career save for the transfer from Seward Community College in Kansas.
The Gamecock offense handed Officer a 2-0 lead in the first inning after consecutive hits off of APSU starter Alex Robles from Gavin Golsan and Clayton Daniel, followed by a walk by Paschal Petrongolo to load the bases.  Senior Tyler Gamble punched a fielder's choice to the right side of the infield to drive in the first run of the contest.  After two outs in the inning, Jax State put on the double steal as Daniel swiped home after Gamble took off for second.

After Smithson's home run off of Officer to cut the JSU lead to 2-1 in the top half of the third, Gamble delivered another JSU two-out RBI with a double to left center, plating Daniel.

Officer would retire the next eight Govs, including 1-2-3 frames in the fourth and the fifth.  Dre Gleason's one-out walk in the sixth snapped the string of consecutive outs by Officer.

The Gamecocks used the long ball to stretch the lead as junior Peyton Williams blasted the first pitch he saw from Robles in the seventh over the left field fence.  It was Williams' second home run of the season and both have come against OVC competition.

With a 4-1 lead in the eighth, JSU collected its second home late in the contest after sophomore catcher Hayden White belted a two-run round tripper to right center, scoring Gamble, who reached via an APSU fielding miscue.

Gamble and White turned in multiple RBI contests as JSU had a balanced lineup with seven hits throughout the order.  It was Gamble's second multiple RBI game, while White now has four multiple RBI games this season.  Gamble and White extended their respective hitting streak to 12 and 11 games respectively.

Admission to all games at Rudy Abbott Field is free for JSU students and all fans 18 and under.  The Saturday and Sunday contests will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.