OXFORD – Jacksonville State dropped its second Ohio Valley Conference game of the early league slate on Saturday with a 6-4 setback to Austin Peay at Choccolocco Park.
The win by the Govs clinches the weekend series after claiming Friday's opener, 7-4. The two clubs will wrap up the OVC set on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission is free to JSU students and all fans 18 years and under. The game can be heard on the Gamecock Sports Network.
For the second straight day APSU had timely hitting throughout the day, including a two-out RBI single by David Martinez in the top of the sixth to break up a 3-3 deadlock. The Govs added a pair of runs in the eighth and fended off two late-inning threats by the Gamecocks. Martinez delivered another RBI single, followed by an RBI base hit by Imani Willis.
Jax State mounted a comeback in the seventh and eighth as both times it had the bases loaded and could only push a run across the board. JSU loaded the bases without a hit in the seventh before APSU reliever Harley Gollert induced an inning-ending ground ball by Clayton Daniel. After the Gamecocks stung together three hits off of Gollert in the eighth by Taylor Hawthorne, Trent Simpson and Andrew Naismith, Isaac Alexander had an RBI ground out before APSU thwarted JSU's scoring opportunities.
APSU jumped on the board with solo runs in the first and second off of Saturday starter Derrick Adams. Adams settled in until getting in to trouble in the fifth inning. The Decatur, Alabama lefty was touched for six of APSU's 11 hits on the day and walked a pair. Freshman Christina Edwards was effective in his 2.1 innings of work, but surrendered the go-ahead two-out RBI by Martinez in the sixth to absorb the loss. He allowed two runs, but one was unearned. Edwards turned in four strikeouts in the outing, matching his season-high, which was set against Kennesaw State last Tuesday. Senior Grant Chandler made his 80th career appearance in a JSU uniform in the eighth, while freshman Colin Casey tossed the ninth.
Similar to Friday, JSU relied on the home run ball to get back in to the contest on Saturday. Junior Nic Gaddis collected his 13th hit in the last seven games with an RBI single in JSU's half of the fourth. He drove in Daniel, who led off the inning with a double to left field. It was Daniel's 50th double of his career, which moved him in to a tie for seventh on the program's career doubles list with former Gamecock Roby Brooks (1994-97).
Senior Trent Simpson turned in a carbon copy of his three-run blast on Friday against APSU with a two-run home run to left field to give JSU a 3-2 lead after four innings. The lead did not last long as Willis scored after reaching base via a leadoff walk by Adams.
Simpson and Naismith were the two Gamecocks with multiple hits. With Hawthorne's single in the eighth, the Prattville, Alabama product extended his on-base streak to 37 consecutive games, dating back to the last 23 games of the 2017 season.
JSU will look to bounce back on Sunday with senior righty Colton Pate getting the start.
