BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Western Kentucky evened the weekend series on Saturday with a 14-4 win over Jacksonville State at Nick Denes Field on the WKU campus.

After JSU claimed Friday's series opener, 3-2, the two clubs will meet on Sunday in the rubber game of the series.  First pitch is set for 1 p.m.

The Gamecocks (3-2) pushed the first run across the plate in the second as freshman Chase Robinson lifted a deep foul ball for the sacrifice fly to score Josh Bobo, who was one of two Jax State players with multiple hits.  Bobo, from Attalla, Alabama, turned in a 3-for-4 day at the plate with singles in his first three plate appearances.  Bobo started the run-scoring frame with one of his singles and eventually scored.  The Gamecocks had no trouble getting the leadoff man on base throughout the contest as they had the leadoff man on base in eight of the nine innings.  WKU starter Paul Kirkpatrick did a nice job of working around the leadoff hits as he would allow all four JSU runs over the span of his six innings of work. 

The Hilltoppers (3-3) started their scoring with two runs in the home-half of the second and extend the lead to 5-1 after three innings.  The highlight of the WKU third was a two-run home run by Hunter Wood. Wood would end the day with six RBI after a grand slam in the seventh.

Trailing 6-1 after four innings, JSU had its best run-producing inning with three runs in the fifth to cut the deficit to 6-4.  Jax State touched Kirkpatrick (1-0) for four consecutive hits, including an RBI double by junior Clayton Daniel.  Daniel plated sophomore Nic Gaddis and freshman Nolan Greckel, who both had singles ahead of Daniel's extra base hit.  Junior Taylor Hawthorne drove in the final two runs with a single to centerfield.  Greckel joined Bobo as the only other Gamecock with multiple hits.

The JSU pitching staff struggled to get WKU outs as starter Colton Pate (0-1) went just three innings after allowing five runs on eight hits.  The Hilltoppers posted 19 hits against JSU pitching on Saturday.  After JSU sliced the lead to 6-4 in the fifth, freshman Cody Dodd had a quick WKU fifth, but the home squad put together back-to-back four run innings in the sixth and seventh.

Peyton Stracener and Corley Woods made their pitching debuts for JSU, while senior Michael McCreless saw his first action of the 2017 season.

The Gamecocks and Hilltoppers close out the weekend set on Sunday. The game will be available via live video and audio stream links at JSUGamecockSports.com along with live stats.