Box Score Live Stats - Friday

JACKSONVILLE – Junior Josh Bobo and sophomore Clayton Daniel combined for 10 RBI on Friday night to lead Jacksonville State to a 16-6 series-opening win over UT Martin at Rudy Abbott Field.

The 10-run win was the 30^th of the season for the Gamecocks and kept their hopes alive for that coveted opening round bye in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Jackson, Tennessee with an 18-10 conference mark.  JSU has now turned in its 32^nd 30-win season since the 1971 season and the 13^th under head coach Jim Case.  Jax State has now posted 30 or more wins in 12 of the last 13 seasons.  The Gamecocks will be looking to clinch its sixth OVC series of the season on Friday afternoon in game two of the series with the Skyhawks.  UTM dropped to 19-33 overall and 8-20 in OVC play.

It was Daniel's two-run single that broke a 5-5 deadlock in the JSU half of the sixth with his first of three straight consecutive at bats with a run-scoring hit.  The Guntersville, Alabama native laced a two-run single to centerfield to give the Gamecocks a 7-5 lead and a margin that they would not relinquish.  JSU's five-run sixth also had RBI from sophomore Taylor Hawthorne.

Bobo returned to midseason form on Friday with three hits and driving in a season-best six runs.  It was the third time this season that the Attalla, Alabama third baseman had five or more RBI in a contest.  Bobo plated JSU's first run of the contest in the second after UTM opened the game with a solo home run in the first. 

After UTM regained the lead with an RBI in the third, Bobo erased another deficit with a bases-clearing double to right center in the Gamecocks' third.  Bobo added the final two RBI of the night on his second extra base hit with a double to down the left field line in the eighth.  The Gamecocks broke the game open in the inning with a five-run eighth.  Sophomore catcher Hayden White delivered a run-scoring single in the eighth.

The trio of Daniel, Bobo and A.J. Reynolds combined for nine of JSU's 16-hit attack.  Seniors Paschal Petrongolo and Elliot McCummings had multiple hits in the win.

While the offense was starting to click midway through the Friday night affair, it was the effort of freshman Garrett Farmer out of the bullpen that quieted the UTM lineup for 3.2 innings.  After starter Graham Officer pitched the first 4.1 innings and allowed nine Skyhawk hits, Farmer limited UTM to just three hits and a run in the outing.  Farmer, from Huntsville, Alabama, also added four strikeouts to improve to 3-4 on the season.  The JSU bullpen allowed just four total hits by UTM as Colton Pate finished the game with a clean ninth.

Andrew Castillo led UTM at the plate with a 4-for-5 performance and was a triple shy of the cycle.  He turned in the only home run of the contest with the leadoff solo shot.

Admission to Rudy Abbott Field is free for all JSU students and all fans 18 years old and younger.  The Friday and Saturday games of the series will not be available on the Gamecock Sports Network, due to JSU's advancement to NCAA Softball Regional in Auburn over the weekend.  Both games will be available via live stats at JSUGamecockSports.com.