OXFORD – The Jacksonville State baseball team bounced back from a tough opening weekend of Ohio Valley Conference play with a 9-5 win over in-state rival Samford on Tuesday at Choccolocco Park behind the efforts of three freshman pitchers.

The Gamecocks moved over the .500 mark at 8-7 with the first of two midweek match ups against in-state foes.  JSU will travel to Auburn on Wednesday for the rescheduled Feb. 21 contest on the AU campus.  First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be available online on the SEC Network +, the online platform of the SEC Network.  SU dropped to 9-6 on the season and will host JSU on May 16 in Birmingham, Ala.

True freshman Cody Dodd, a Calhoun County product out of Alexandria, Alabama, earned his first career start on the mound against the Bulldogs and was impressive in his 3.2 innings of work, but it was another young right hander that collected the win in relief.  Freshman Corley Woods, from Alexander City, Alabama thwarted a SU comeback after trailing 7-1 through three innings.  The Bulldogs trimmed the lead to 7-4 after a three-run fourth inning, but Woods turned in one of his six strikeouts on the night to end the threat.  Woods matched Dodd with 3.2 innings of work and scattered three Bulldog hits and allowed just one run.  Redshirt freshman Tyler Wilburn finished off the game and recorded a pair of strikeouts.

With Dodd's five strikeouts, the trio of young arms fanned 13 Samford batters.  The Gamecocks pitchers have recorded double figure strikeout totals in six games this season, including the last three games.

Offensively, Jax State took advantage of SU' ineffectiveness on the bump and four errors in the contest.  SU, who used five arms, walked seven and were hindered by the defense behind them.  After SU struck first with a run in the top half of the first, JSU answered with back-to-back three-run innings.  The three-run first was highlighted by RBI singles from junior Taylor Hawthorne and junior Trent Simpson.  The three-four-hole hitters were the two Gamecocks with multiple hits as Hawthorne added a leadoff double in the sixth.  Simpson, from Oxford, Alabama, belted his second home run of the season to leadoff the fourth inning.  He greeted new SU pitcher, Tanner Cunningham with a home run over the left field wall.  Playing in his hometown, Simpson already has a double and home run under his belt in the confines of Choccolocco Park.

JSU scored three runs off just one hit in the second three spot as Nolan Greckel and Clayton Daniel, who both walked, scored on wild pitches.  Freshman Payton Young drove in the third run with the lone hit of the inning.  Daniel added an RBI in the fourth with a sacrifice fly.  Leading 8-5, the Gamecocks extended the lead in the seventh with an RBI by Dalton Etheridge.  Etheridge's hit scored Josh Bobo, who pinch ran for Joe McGuire.  McGuire drilled his second career triple off the wall in deep centerfield.

Following the trip to Plainsman Park on Wednesday, the Gamecocks return to Choccolocco Park this weekend for their first OVC home weekend.  JSU will entertain the Panthers of Eastern Illinois with a three-game set that gets started on Friday evening at 6 p.m.  The series will continue on Saturday and Sunday with game times set for 1 p.m. each day.