CARBONDALE, ILL. – Jacksonville State recorded a 7-0 shutout over Southern Illinois behind the pitching gem of Joe McGuire and five RBI by junior Trent Simpson, claiming the non-conference weekend series at Itchy Jones Stadium.

The Gamecocks, who won on Friday, 8-6, dropped Saturday's game, 5-4, but bounced back with a dominating performance against the Salukis.  Jax State improved to 12-10 overall and will be idle again during the midweek before jumping back in to Ohio Valley Conference play next weekend at Murray State.  JSU and the Racers will begin the three-game set on Friday at 6 p.m.

McGuire, who has been a thorn in SIU's side offensively in the first two games with a pair of pinch hit base hits and a pair of RBI, silenced the Salukis on Sunday with his second consecutive quality outing on the mound.  McGuire retired the first 16 batters before the first Saluki reached base with a one-out walk in the fifth.  He would match his career high in innings pitched with seven scoreless frames and fan five Salukis in the outing. McGuire faced 24 Salukis and allowed just two hits on 87 pitches.  Connor Kopach broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out single to left.  Logan Blackfan was the only other Saluki to record a hit off McGuire with a two-out hit in the seventh.

In McGuire's last three appearances in the last three Sunday's (vs. Austin Peay, vs. Eastern Illinois and vs. SIU) he has pitched 15.1 innings, allowed one run on just eight hits and tallied 14 strikeouts. 

Senior Michael McCreless and junior Justin Hoyt secured JSU's second shutout of the season with a clean eighth and ninth.  Hoyt worked out of a second and third situation to close out the game.

McGuire's former high school teammate at Oxford High School and current teammate, Trent Simpson matched him with a solid offensive effort.  He quickly put the Gamecocks on the scoreboard with a three-run home run over the left field wall.  It was Simpson's second home run off of SIU pitching and his fifth extra base hit of the weekend.  The transfer by way of Chattahoochee Valley Community College added his fourth and fifth RBI of the contest with a two-out double down the left field line in the fourth.  He finished with two hits in the contest and reached base three times.  On the weekend, he batted .462 with a 6-for-13 series and drove in eight runs.  He also saw time on the mound in Friday's win.

Jax State added two more runs in the fifth with a two RBI single by sophomore Nic Gaddis.  Dalton Etheridge, Clayton Daniel, A.J. Reynolds, Chase Robinson and Payton Young had hits against SIU pitching.  SIU's Joey Marciano was saddled with his first loss of the season after lasting just 3.2 innings.

All three games at Murray State will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.