TROY – Jacksonville State put together another ninth inning rally on Wednesday night as Jacksonville State erased a 3-1 deficit to Troy with three runs to down the Trojans, 4-3, at Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus.
With the win, the Gamecocks split the season set with their longtime rival and moved to 23-20 on the season. The loss drops Troy to 24-20 overall. The Trojans topped JSU earlier this season at Choccolocco Park. Jax State will now prep for a critical Ohio Valley Conference weekend as Morehead State, the second place team in the league standings will visit Oxford, Alabama beginning on Friday, May 5. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. The series will continue on Saturday and Sunday with 1 p.m. start times.
JSU did all of its damage in the ninth with one down as junior Nola Greckel worked his third walk of the night off of Troy closer Marc Skinner. Junior
Trent Simpson, in a pinch-hitting role, reached base after a misplayed ball at third base, pushing Greckel to third and Simpson, the tying run in scoring position. Junior
Clayton Daniel collected his third hit of the night, driving in Greckel. Junior
Taylor Hawthorne turned in his second double of the night with a two-bagger down in the left field corner to equalize at 3-3. With the Trojan infield drawn in, senior
A.J. Reynolds laced a single to left field, scoring the winning run. It's the second ninth inning comeback for JSU in the last four games. The Gamecocks orchestrated a rally last Saturday at Eastern Kentucky.
With
Justin Hoyt, the club's leader in saves pitching the eighth to hold the deficit at two runs, Jax State went with Simpson to face the Trojans in the ninth. Simpson notched his first save of the season with three straight outs. The Oxford, Alabama native fanned two of the three batters he faced. Hoyt recorded the win and moved to 4-1 on the season.
Entering the ninth, it looked like Troy's three-run third inning would be the difference in the contest. After freshman first baseman
Andrew Naismith gave JSU a 1-0 lead on a solo home run over the tall wall in right field in the second, the Trojans would put together the three runs on a trio of hits off of JSU starter
Michael McCreless. A leadoff walk opened the door for Troy to have a big inning as back-to-back RBI singles would give the Trojans a 2-1 lead. Troy's Justin Friend, who had a 3-for-4 night at the plate, drove in the third run with a single to centerfield.
McCreless matched his career high of five innings in the contest, allowing the three runs on five hits in the outing. Redshirt freshman
Tyler Wilburn was the first Gamecock reliever out of the bullpen and worked a 1.2 innings with a strikeout. Freshman
Corley Woods worked the seventh before Hoyt entered the contest. Woods, Hoyt and Simpson did not allow a Trojan hit in the final three frames.
Daniel finished the night 3-for-5 with an RBI in the ninth and was solid defensively with six putouts, while Hawthorne's first double came in the first inning. Daniel now has a team-best 22 multiple hit games and his fourth game with three hits. The Guntersville, Alabama native pushed his hitting streak to eight games and extended his streak of consecutive games reaching base to nine games.
The series with the Eagles of Morehead State will be carried on the Gamecock Sports Network. Tickets are available at JSUGamecockSports.com and all JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger get in free.
