Tuesday, April 4
OXFORD, AL
6 p.m.
Jacksonville State University
vs
UAB
Gamecocks Return to Choccolocco Park on Tuesday
4/3/2017 8:08:00 PM | Baseball
Live Stats | Live Audio
JACKSONVILLE – After being on the road for the last two weekend series, the Jacksonville State baseball team returns to Choccolocco Park in Oxford for four games this week, beginning Tuesday night against in-state rival UAB. First pitch against the Blazers is set for 6 p.m.
The Gamecocks, who have not played midweek games for the last two weeks, will host UAB on Tuesday and return the trip on Wednesday at Young Memorial Field on the UAB campus. The Wednesday contest will get started at 6:30 p.m. Following the two-game set with the Blazers, the Gamecocks will turn their focus to Ohio Valley Conference action, hosting conference front-runner, Tennessee Tech in a three-game series at Choccolocco Park. The series begins with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday, followed by afternoon match ups on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. on both days. Tickets for all home games are available at JSUGamecockSports.com and at the gate. JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger will be admitted free.
JSU (14-11, 4-5 OVC) will be looking to maintain momentum it has grabbed away from home as it has claimed consecutive weekend series in the last two weekends on the road. Jax State stepped out of conference at Southern Illinois and left Carbondale, Illinois with a series win. This past weekend, JSU collected an OVC series win at Murray State. The Gamecocks topped the Racers 7-5 on Friday and clinched the series with a 4-3 win on Sunday. UAB enters the midweek affair at 15-13 overall and 4-5 in Conference USA action. The Blazers dropped 2-of-3 from Florida International this past weekend in Miami, Florida. TTU, riding a 12-game winning streak to start conference play, will host Lipscomb on Tuesday before making the trip to Oxford.
Tuesday could be a monumental night for JSU Head Coach Jim Case as he enters the contest with 499 career wins. A win over one of his former employers would give him his 500th career win. He would become the third current OVC coach to have 500-plus wins on the season, joining Belmont's Dave Jarvis (895) and UT Martin's Rick Robinson (744). Case would be the first current OVC coach to record all 500 wins at one school.
The Gamecocks begin the week hitting .264 as a team and led by freshman Andrew Naismith, who had five hits, including his third home run of the season this past weekend against MSU. Junior Taylor Hawthorne continues to be among the Gamecocks' leaders at the plate with a .308 average at the plate and ranks second on the team in RBI. Against the Racers, Hawthorne also had five hits, including three hits in the Saturday setback. He drove in all four JSU in the 6-4 loss. Junior Trent Simpson leads the club in RBI with 26 on the season.
The JSU pitching staff has carried the club through the first 25 games of the season. The staff has put together a team earned run average of 4.67. The Gamecocks are averaging over nine strike outs per contest. Against the Racers, one of the top-hitting teams in the league, JSU limited them to 14 runs on 16 hits. The Racers hit .167 off of JSU pitching in the three-game set.
JACKSONVILLE – After being on the road for the last two weekend series, the Jacksonville State baseball team returns to Choccolocco Park in Oxford for four games this week, beginning Tuesday night against in-state rival UAB. First pitch against the Blazers is set for 6 p.m.
The Gamecocks, who have not played midweek games for the last two weeks, will host UAB on Tuesday and return the trip on Wednesday at Young Memorial Field on the UAB campus. The Wednesday contest will get started at 6:30 p.m. Following the two-game set with the Blazers, the Gamecocks will turn their focus to Ohio Valley Conference action, hosting conference front-runner, Tennessee Tech in a three-game series at Choccolocco Park. The series begins with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday, followed by afternoon match ups on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. on both days. Tickets for all home games are available at JSUGamecockSports.com and at the gate. JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger will be admitted free.
JSU (14-11, 4-5 OVC) will be looking to maintain momentum it has grabbed away from home as it has claimed consecutive weekend series in the last two weekends on the road. Jax State stepped out of conference at Southern Illinois and left Carbondale, Illinois with a series win. This past weekend, JSU collected an OVC series win at Murray State. The Gamecocks topped the Racers 7-5 on Friday and clinched the series with a 4-3 win on Sunday. UAB enters the midweek affair at 15-13 overall and 4-5 in Conference USA action. The Blazers dropped 2-of-3 from Florida International this past weekend in Miami, Florida. TTU, riding a 12-game winning streak to start conference play, will host Lipscomb on Tuesday before making the trip to Oxford.
Tuesday could be a monumental night for JSU Head Coach Jim Case as he enters the contest with 499 career wins. A win over one of his former employers would give him his 500th career win. He would become the third current OVC coach to have 500-plus wins on the season, joining Belmont's Dave Jarvis (895) and UT Martin's Rick Robinson (744). Case would be the first current OVC coach to record all 500 wins at one school.
The Gamecocks begin the week hitting .264 as a team and led by freshman Andrew Naismith, who had five hits, including his third home run of the season this past weekend against MSU. Junior Taylor Hawthorne continues to be among the Gamecocks' leaders at the plate with a .308 average at the plate and ranks second on the team in RBI. Against the Racers, Hawthorne also had five hits, including three hits in the Saturday setback. He drove in all four JSU in the 6-4 loss. Junior Trent Simpson leads the club in RBI with 26 on the season.
The JSU pitching staff has carried the club through the first 25 games of the season. The staff has put together a team earned run average of 4.67. The Gamecocks are averaging over nine strike outs per contest. Against the Racers, one of the top-hitting teams in the league, JSU limited them to 14 runs on 16 hits. The Racers hit .167 off of JSU pitching in the three-game set.
Players Mentioned
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