MIAMI, Fla, - Jacksonville State posted eight runs over the final four innings to claim the season-opening weekend series over Florida International with a 12-6 Sunday win at the FIU Baseball Stadium.

After dropping Friday's season-opener, 5-0, to the Panthers (1-2), the Gamecocks (2-1) bounced back to win 6-5 on Saturday before posting the win on Sunday.  JSU continues its 12-game road trip on Tuesday with a trip to Auburn.  First pitch at Plainsman Park is set for 3 p.m.

JSU, who rallied in the seventh of Saturday's contest with three runs, carried that momentum over in to the series finale with three runs in the second frame.  Freshman Chase Robinson put the Gamecocks on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly ball to drive in Payton Young, who reached base with a single.  The Piedmont, Alabama native made his second start of the season and first in right field on Sunday.  Junior Taylor Hawthorne belted a double to right center, pushing across a pair of JSU runs.  The Gamecocks would add a run in the third on freshman Andrew Naismith's RBI sacrifice fly.  Naismith, who made his second start at first base, finished the day 2-for-3 after recording a solo home run in the Gamecock ninth to add the 12^th run of the day. 
Hawthorne led six Gamecocks with multiple hits on the day as the Prattville, Alabama shortstop was 3-for-6.

Sophomore Derrick Adams was staked to a 4-0 lead through the first two innings before FIU drove in two runs on a pair of two-out singles.  The Panthers added two more runs in the fourth to equalize at 4-4 and took a 5-4 lead on Irving Loez's solo home run off of JSU reliever Cody Dodd.  That would be all that Dodd, a freshman from Alexandria would give to FIU as the right hander tossed 3.0 solid innings and was touched for the one hit and one run.  Adams and Dodd combined for six strikeouts in the first seven innings.  Dodd picked up the win in his Jax State debut.  Tyler Wilburn and Nate Sylvester pitched the eighth and ninth respectively.

The Gamecocks struggled against FIU's Robert Garcia for three innings as he posted seven strikeouts in four innings of work, but it was his final inning that JSU started to put things together offensively against him.  Trailing 5-4 in the sixth, JSU rallied with its second of its trio of three-run frames.  Robinson and Hawthorne produced RBIs along with senior Joe McGuire's eventual game-winning RBI with a single to left.  The Oxford, Alabama product, who got the win on the mound Saturday, registered another RBI in the JSU's three-run eighth.

Senior Peyton Williams collected JSU's first home run of the season to start scoring in the eighth.  Williams belted one over the right field wall.  It was his fifth of his career and first since last season against Austin Peay.  McGuire's RBI was the second of the inning, while senior Josh Bobo joined the RBI contingent with a double down the left field line.

JSU, who was held to five hits on Friday, combined for 29 hits in the final 18 innings of the weekend after collecting 12 hits on Saturday and 17 on Sunday.

Tuesday's contest with the Tigers will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network and it will be shown on the SEC Network +, the online platform of the SEC Network.  First pitch is set for 3 p.m.