OXFORD – Jacksonville State has now claimed weekend series over the top-two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference after taking the series over Morehead State, 8-1, on Sunday afternoon at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
The Eagles, who entered the weekend in second place, will remain in that spot but fell to 30-18 on the season and 14-9 in OVC play. Jax State, who has a series win over league-leading Tennessee Tech earlier this season, improved to 25-21 overall and level in the OVC at 12-12. With two weekends left in the regular season, JSU will travel to UT Martin next weekend before hosting SIU Edwardsville on the final weekend of the season.
It was a dominating performance on the mound by senior
Joe McGuire and the Gamecocks' offense pounded out 11 total hits, including four extra base hits on the day. Junior
Clayton Daniel continues to produce for the Gamecocks with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. His leadoff triple in the fourth ignited JSU to a three-run inning to erase a 1-0 deficit. Daniel scored on a
Taylor Hawthorne's misplayed fly ball in left field. Sophomore
Nic Gaddis, who had the best weekend of any Gamecock at the plate, had one of his six hits on the weekend with an RBI single.
The lead was all McGuire needed as he silenced the Eagles, who are one of the top-hitting teams in NCAA Division I Baseball. In seven innings of work, McGuire held MSU to four hits, with two of them coming from Niko Hulsizer. The Oxford, Alabama right hander fanned six Eagles and allowed one free pass. He moved to 7-1 on the season and notched his fourth win against OVC competition. Junior
Trent Simpson and redshirt junior
Justin Hoyt worked clean innings in the eighth and ninth respectively.
JSU expanded the lead in the fifth with Hawthorne's second RBI of the day and an RBI by senior
A.J. Reynolds. The Gamecocks continued to add runs with two more in the seventh. Back-to-back doubles by Reynolds and Simpson pushed the two runs across the plate. JSU's final run of the day was a solo home run off the bat of senior
Josh Bobo. The home run over the right center wall was his third of the season.
Before heading to Martin, Tennessee for an OVC road set, the Gamecocks will travel back down to Montgomery, Alabama on Tuesday for a midweek contest against Alabama State. First pitch from the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday's game will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.
