OXFORD – The Jacksonville State baseball team handed head coach Jim Case his 500^th career win on Tuesday with a 12-6 win over in-state rival UAB at Choccolocco Park.

The win pushed JSU's win streak over the Blazers to three consecutive wins as the two clubs will meet on Wednesday at UAB's Young Memorial Field, weather permitting with severe storms forecasted for the state of Alabama on Wednesday.  First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. on the UAB campus.  The Gamecocks improved to 15-11 overall, while UAB dropped to 15-14 on the season. 

Case becomes the third current OVC coach to have 500-plus wins in a career, joining Belmont's Dave Jarvis (895) and UT Martin's Rick Robinson (744).  Case also became the first current OVC coach to record all 500 wins at one school.

Case's 500^th win became a reality as the Gamecocks erased a 6-4 deficit with a season-high eight runs in the eighth inning.  JSU sent 11 men to the plate and strung together six hits.  Sophomore catcher Nic Gaddis came through with one of the clutch hits in the inning with a two-run single up the middle.  After Clayton Daniel was hit by the pitch, senior Joe McGuire delivered again in a pinch hitting role with a double just inside the first base bag that cleared the bases and gave JSU an 8-6 lead.  The Gamecocks would pile on more runs with Trent Simpson's double.   Freshman Andrew Naismith ripped a single to right field before senior A.J. Reynolds blasted an opposite field three-run home run down the right field line for the final three runs of the inning.

Simpson, who finished the contest on the mound and picked up his first Jax State win on the bump, finished with a pair of hits, including a two-run home run that highlighted JSU's three-run first inning.  He joined Gaddis as the only two Gamecocks with multiple hits. 

Gaddis' posted his first of three RBI on the night with a double down the left field line, that  scored Chase Robinson, who reached on one of UAB's two fielding errors.
After Gaddis' RBI in the fourth, UAB's pitching handcuffed JSU until the eighth.  Until JSU's six hits in the eighth inning, UAB had allowed just five hits in the contest.  UAB went the first three innings unable to solve JSU starter Grant Chandler until a two-run fourth inning.  UAB took advantage of five walks by the Gameocks' bullpen over the next three innings to erase a deficit and take a 5-4 lead in the fifth.  UAB's fifth frame was highlighted by Pierce Ressmeyer's triple to right center, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs.  UAB pushed the sixth run across the dish in the seventh with a sacrifice bunt situation by Antonio Ralat.

Following Wednesday's contest with UAB, the Gamecocks return to Choccolocco Park for a weekend series against OVC front-runner Tennessee Tech, beginning on Friday, April 7.  The series begins at 6 p.m. on Friday with the series continuing on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. on both days.