JACKSONVILLE – Junior Josh Bobo had a resounding return to the lineup with a pair of home runs against Samford, but Jacksonville State dropped a 7-6 decision to the Bulldogs on Tuesday night at Rudy Abbott Field.

The Gamecocks fell to 16-7 overall and dropped the two-game season set with Samford after falling in Birmingham on March 22.  The Bulldogs moved to 14-11 overall and have won the last three meetings with Jax State.  JSU will close out the midweek homestand on Wednesday against another in-state foe, Alabama State.  First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Rudy Abbott Field.  Admission is free for JSU students and all fans ages 18 and under.  The contest will be available on the OVC Digital Network and on the Gamecock Sports Network.

Bobo, who did not make the trip to Charleston, Illinois for the Ohio Valley Conference weekend series against Eastern Illinois after an injury in the first meeting with Samford, gave JSU a 2-1 lead in the third inning with his first of two home runs and it looked like his leadoff round tripper in the bottom of the ninth would spark a final at-bat rally for the Gamecocks, but SU's Josh Rich retired the next three he faced to earn his third save of the contest.  The last time JSU had a player with two home runs in a contest was Ryan Sebra against Belmont last season on April 26.  Bobo joined sophomore Clayton Daniel with three hits each in the loss.  The Attalla, Alabama third baseman also drove in another run in the sixth with a single to left.  His base hit evened the game at 5-all after the Bulldogs erased a 3-1 deficit with four runs in the top half of the inning.

SU put the go-ahead run on the board in the seventh off of JSU sophomore Grant Chandler.  Alex Lee started the inning with a leadoff single and moved to third quickly on a pair of wild pitches.  Rob Perteet picked up an RBI with a ground out to the right side of the infield.

JSU, who out-hit the Bulldogs 15-11, had chances to put runs on the board throughout the game, but stranded 12 on the base paths.  Trailing 7-6, Daniel collected his third hit of the game with a leadoff double, but JSU could not advance him across the plate.

Samford added the eventual game-winning run with an RBI double by Lee.  Lee was a tough out for JSU with a 4-for-5 night at the dish.

Freshman Garrett Farmer made his first start on the mound in a Gamecock uniform and went 5. 1 innings and allowed one run on five hits.  The Huntsville, Alabama right hander finished with three strikeouts in the start.  Junior Nate Sylvester pitched a pair of innings and tallied four strike outs.  Chandler, who suffered his first loss of the season, added a strikeout.  Colton Pate pitched the ninth and recorded JSU's 10^th Samford strikeout of the night. 

Senior Gavin Golsan had a two-hit night along with freshman shortstop Joseph Jordan, who also had an RBI single.  Sophomore Hayden White extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a double in the first inning.