Live Stats

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State inched closer to securing an opening round bye in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament next week as JSU recorded a 4-0 win over UT Martin on Friday afternoon to claim the final weekend series of the season.

The Gamecocks will need a win on Saturday over the Skyhawks to finish second in the OVC standings to receive the bye in Jackson, Tennessee.   Jax State improved to 31-22 overall and 18-10 in OVC play, while UTM dropped to 19-34 on the season and 9-20 in the league.  Saturday's first pitch is set for 1 p.m. at Rudy Abbott Field.  Jax State has won seven of the 10 weekends in the OVC and nine during the 2016 season.  The program will honor seniors Gavin Golsan, Tyler Gamble, Elliot McCummings, Paschal Petrongolo, Ty Pierce, Graham Officer and Chase Silvani prior to Saturday's contest.

After JSU posted a 16-6 win on Thursday night to open the series, it was a pitching duel on a misty Friday afternoon.  Junior Joe McGuire, inserted into the weekend rotation two weeks ago, turned in another stellar outing on the mound.  The Oxford, Alabama righthander went a career-long 7.0 innings and allowed three Skyhawk hits.  The three hits that UTM touched him for were doubles, but McGuire was able to work out of those jams early and hold the game scoreless.  McGuire was one strikeout away from matching his season-high in strikeouts with five.

Junior Nate Sylvester tossed the final two innings and was touched for one UTM hit to keep the shutout intact.  The blanking by JSU was the first since it turned in a 3-0 win over South Alabama on April 21, 2015 and the first shutout of a conference foe since May 11, 2014 against Eastern Kentucky.

UTM's starter Dom Bazzani was sharp against the Gamecock hitters through the first three innings before giving up a run in the fourth.  Bazzani limited JSU to eight hits in the contest, but the hits came in a timely manner.  JSU manufactured a run in four straight at bats from the fourth through the seventh.

Golsan started the fourth inning with a leadoff walk and moved to second on his 100^th career steal.  Sophomore Clayton Daniel pushed him to third on a ground ball to the right side before Gamble collected an RBI ground out.  Golsan, from Trussville, Alabama became just the second Gamecock to have swiped over 100 bases in a career.  He joins JSU's all-time base stealer, Bert Smith, who finished with 107 career swiped bags.  Golsan moved closer to Smith's mark with another stolen base in the seventh.  He was the lone Gamecock to have multiple hits off of Bazzani. 

JSU registered the second run of the day in the fifth on a two-out triple by A.J. Reynolds, driving in Paschal Petrongolo, who started the frame with a double to left field.  The Gamecocks took advantage of a Skyhawk fielding miscue to score a third run in the sixth.

Golsan's second hit tacked on the fourth and final run of the day for the Gamecocks.

Saturday's contest will not be available on the Gamecock Sports Network, due to JSU softball team competing in the NCAA Softball Regional in Auburn.  Live stats will be available at JSUGamecockSports.com.