MIAMI, Fla. – Florida International salvaged the final game of the weekend series with Jacksonville State with a 7-2 win on Sunday afternoon at FIU Baseball Stadium.
The Gamecocks (8-3) claimed the three-game set by posting a pair of extra inning wins on Friday and Saturday. JSU broke up a 6-6 deadlock on Friday with a six-run 12th inning to start the weekend with a 12-6 decision. Jax State its third consecutive weekend series with a ninth-inning rally to send the contest to extra innings and then explode for seven runs in the 10th for a 13-6 victory. FIU moved its overall mark to 5-6 on the season. Even with the Sunday setback, the Gamecocks are off to their best start after 11 games since the 2011 campaign. That season, JSU started 8-3 and went on to post a 36-win season.
After a four-game road trip and a 3-1 mark during that span, JSU returns to Choccolocco Park on Tuesday, hosting regional foe Kennesaw State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. The Gamecocks will enter Ohio Valley Conference play next weekend, hosting Austin Peay. The series begins on Friday, March 8 in Oxford, Alabama.
FIU broke a 1-1 tie in the home half of the seventh with a solo home run off the bat of Lorenzo Hamilton, Jr. to begin the frame. It was the Panthers' second home run of the day as Will Saxton equalized the contest in the fifth. The pair of round trippers spoiled another impressive start by senior Colton Pate. Pate, who was a member of a JSU trip of arms that combined for a no hitter last weekend against Radford, picked up right where he left that outing on Sunday. The Lincoln, Alabama righty was not touched for a hit until the third inning. Dating back to his first two starts, Pate held 46 batters hitless and lasted 15.2 innings of work before surrendering a run. He fell to 2-1 on the season.
After combining for 26 hits in 22 innings on the weekend, the Gamecocks were limited to six hits against three different FIU pitchers. FIU starter Logan Allen handcuffed the JSU line up in the first six innings, recording 10 strikeouts and touched for the lone run on four hits. The Panthers' bullpen allowed a hit in the ninth. JSU had an scoring opportunity to break the tie in the seventh before FIU turned in the six-run inning after stringing together six hits. The FIU arms finished with 12 strike outs.
Junior Nic Gaddis was sensational offensively and behind the plate for the Gamecocks. Gaddis entered Sunday's series-finale on a 7-for-7 streak at the plate after driving in the go-ahead RBI double on Friday night in the 12th and the hit parade on Saturday with a 6-for-6 performance and driving in six of JSU's 13 runs. The Trenton, Georgia native extended the hitting streak to 8-for-8 in his first plate appearance. He finished the weekend by reaching base 11 times after adding a pair of walks on Sunday. Gaddis delivered JSU's first run of the contest with another RBI double in the second. Gaddis also threw out a Panther on the base path on the weekend.
Senior Trent Simpson led JSU at the plate on Sunday with a pair of hits, including a double and scored on Gaddis' two-bagger. Junior transfer Seth Hendon connected on his first hit as a Gamecock with a leadoff double to start the ninth. He would score JSU's second run on Isaac Alexander's fly ball.
All four games next week at Choccolocco Park will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network. Tickets will be available at the gate. All kids 18 years old and younger along with JSU students get in free.
