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JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State baseball team is off to its best start since 2011 and will look to continue the momentum this weekend as Ohio Valley Conference play begins, hosting Austin Peay at Choccolocco Park.

The weekend will get started early on Friday with an 11 a.m. first pitch at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.  The series continues on Saturday and Sunday with start times set for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.  All fans 18 years old and young along with all JSU students are admitted free.  All three games will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.

The Gamecocks and Governors begin the weekend with the top-two overall records in the OVC as APSU starts league play with an 8-5 mark after dropping midweek contests at nationally-ranked Ole Miss and Samford.  JSU topped the Owls of Kennesaw State on Tuesday in its lone midweek outing.

The Gamecocks and Govs will open the 30-game OVC slate against each other for the second consecutive year.  Last season, APSU swept JSU in Clarksville, 8-4, 4-0, and a 14-inning, 6-5 decision.  The Govs also eliminated Jax State in the 2017 OVC Tournament at Choccolocco Park, 8-7.  Dating back to its entrance in to the league, JSU has won 10 of the 14 OVC-opening series.

Junior Nic Gaddis has carried the club offensively throughout the first 12 games of the season, especially in the last five games, dating back to JSU's win over UAB in Birmingham on Feb.27.  The catcher from Trenton, Georgia is hitting a team-best .475 with 19 hits and has pushed 13 runs across the plate this season.  Gaddis was named the OVC Player of the Week after hitting .667 in the four road games.  He finished the week 10-for-15 and reached base 13 times in 18 plate appearances.  Gaddis strung together eight consecutive hits over the final two games of the FIU set, including a 6-for-6 day at the plate in JSU's 13-6, 10-inning win over the Panthers on Saturday.  He also delivered six RBI in the contest and had the eventual game-winning RBI in Friday's extra inning affair. Gaddis started Sunday with a double, plating his 10th RBI of the week and eighth of the weekend.  He was one hit shy of matching JSU's record for consecutive hits of nine, held by former Gamecock Nick Clecker, who combined for nine straight hits over three games in 2006.

Gaddis extended his hot bat on Tuesday with another RBI single in Jax State's 3-1 win over the Owls. 

Freshman Isaac Alexander has been another bright spot so far this season, matching Gaddis for the team lead in RBI with 13.  The Muscle Shoals, Alabama shortstop has the third-most hits on the team with 13.  He leads all freshmen in the OVC in RBI.

The Gamecocks' pitching staff has been solid in the first three weekends of the season, especially in the first three non-conference weekend series. Entering OVC play, JSU has an overall earned run average of 3.76, which leads the OVC by nearly a full run.  Opposing batters are hitting .238 against the JSU arms.  The Gamecocks will send redshirt sophomore Garrett Farmer to the mound in the opening game with APSU.  Farmer starts OVC play with a 1-0 mark in 15.1 innings pitched.  Farmer has fanned 18 and walked just five on three appearances.  Senior Colton Pate is slated to pitch on Sunday after three quality starts prior to league play.  Pate opened with a pair of wins against Southern Illinois and Radford before suffering a loss last Sunday at FIU.  The Lincoln, Alabama righty pitched 15.2 innings before allowing a run and put a streak of 46 straight batters without a hit from the SIU outing to FIU.