JACKSONVILLE – Alabama State broke a 3-all deadlock in the fifth inning en route to an 8-5 win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field.

The Gamecocks, who opened a five-game homestand with a midweek contest with the Hornets, dropped to 3-4 overall.  JSU turns its attention to a three-game weekend series with Conference USA foe Western Kentucky on the JSU campus.  The series will get underway on Friday, March 4 at 3 p.m.  The Hornets improved to 3-5 on the season.  The Hornets and Gamecocks will meet two more times this season on March 30 in Jacksonville and April 26 in Montgomery, Alabama.

ASU erased an early 1-0 JSU lead with three runs in the second.  Jax State manufactured a run in the opening frame without a hit.  Senior Gavin Golsan led off with a walk and stole his sixth base of the season.  He scored after back-to-back fly ball outs as senior Paschal Petrongolo picked up and RBI with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

After a quick first inning, JSU starter Colton Campbell ran in to trouble in the second allowing a pair of doubles and two RBI singles by the Hornets.  Ray Hernandez, who finished the day 3-for-4 with three RBI, plated his first RBI of the day with a double.  ASU's Eriq White and Oscar Prioleau tallied RBI singles to give the visitors from Montgomery a 301 lead.

Jax State drew even in the fourth with a pair of runs in the fourth.  The inning was highlighted by senior Tyler Gamble's third career triple, scoring sophomore Clayton Daniel from first.  Daniel started the inning with a leadoff walk and extended his consecutive on-base streak to 29 games dating back to the 2015 season.  His 15 game hitting streak was snapped in the contest.  Sophomore Hayden White, who joined Gamble as the only two Gamecocks to have multiple hits in the contest, drove in Gamble with a single to right field.

Hernandez touched JSU pitching again in the four-run fifth with a two-run home run to left center for the crushing hit in the frame.  The Hornets also had an RBI single from Diandre Amion and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Dillon Cooper.  ASU touched freshman Derrick Adams for the four runs off three hits in his only inning of the game.  Adams was one of six Jax State pitchers to get work done on the hill.

JSU trimmed the deficit to 7-4 in the sixth as Gamble powered his first home run of the season over the right field wall.  The Alabaster, Alabama native finished the day 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI.  The Gamecocks had a big inning brewing in the seventh after back-to-back doubles by Peyton Williams and Golsan, but Blake Echelmeier worked through trouble without any more damage in the inning.

ASU extended the lead with an RBI double by Hunter Allen, scoring Gustavo Rios.

Jax State pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and only one free pass in the contest.  Junior Michael McCreless posted three strikeouts in his two innings of work.  Freshman Garrett Farmer made his JSU debut with two scoreless innings and retiring one Hornet.

All three games of the WKU series will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.  The Saturday and Sunday games will get started at 1 p.m.
Admission to all JSU baseball home games is free to JSU students and kids 18 and under.