COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – No lead was safe on Sunday at Bush Stadium at Tennessee Tech as Jacksonville State held on for a 15-14 win in the rubber game of the weekend series with the Golden Eagles.
The win moved to the Gamecocks to 13-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play and sets up a battle for first place in the OVC next weekend as Jax State welcomes Southeast Missouri to Rudy Abbott Field next weekend. SEMO will enter next weekend's series at 16-2 after sweeping Eastern Illinois in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The series will get underway on Friday, April 22 at 6 p.m.
The see-saw battle began in the third inning as JSU plated the first run of the game on sophomore
Clayton Daniel's first of two RBI with his lone single, driving in senior
Gavin Golsan. Golsan, from Trussville, Alabama, led JSU at the dish with a 3-for-6 day and scored three times.
Tech exploded for seven runs in its half of the third, thanks to a pair of home runs. After an RBI single by Tyler Brazelton to equalize, Jake Farr hit the first of three-wind-aided home runs in the small confines of Bush Stadium. Farr hit a two-run round tripper off of JSU starter
Garrett Farmer before Tech loaded the bases in advance of Ryan Flick. Flick turned in the first of two Tech grand slams in the contest to push the lead to 7-1.
JSU showed its resiliency to come from behind as it put together a big inning of itself with a six-run fourth. The Gamecocks strung together four hits and took advantage of a Tech error in the frame. The inning was highlighted by
A.J. Reynolds' two-RBI double down the left field line. Freshman
Joseph Jordan collected an RBI in the inning with a sacrifice fly, while
Tyler Gamble and
Elliot McCummings drive in runs with a bases-loaded walk and a fielders choice.
Junior
Michael McCreless shut down Tech in the fourth before JSU kept the sticks hot with a five-run fifth to take a 12-7 lead. The Gamecocks batted around for the second consecutive inning off of Tech pitching. Jordan's ground out to the right side of the diamond drove in
Josh Bobo with the go-ahead run. Bobo started the rally with a single to left field. The Attalla, Alabama junior finished the day with two hits and drove in three runs. He collected his second home run of the weekend with a two-run blast over the left field wall in the JSU seventh, which proved to be key in the final outcome.
Gamble led JSU in RBIs on the day with four, including a three-run home run in the fifth. The Alabaster, Alabama senior also had a triple in the first and walked three times.
McCreless, who moved to 2-0 on the season, worked 3.1 innings and allowed just three hits and a pair of strikeouts.
Joe McGuire,
Derrick Adams and
Justin Hoyt all combined to finish the game. Hoyt grabbed his conference-leading ninth save after getting the final out of the contest.
Leading 15-7 going to the bottom of the seventh, Tech used the long ball again with its second grand slam of the day. Chase Chambers lifted a ball to the left side of the batters eye that drifted over the wall to cut the lead to 15-11.
Tech tried to rally in the ninth with three runs after two outs in the frame. The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with the tying run at third and winning run at second, but Hoyt stuck out Chris Brown to record the win.
The Gamecocks return home on Tuesday to face Kennesaw State in the final game of the four-game series with the Owls. KSU took 2-of-3 from the Gamecocks earlier this season in Kennesaw, Georgia. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Rudy Abbott Field. Admission is free to all JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger.
