OXFORD – Seniors Clayton Daniel and Taylor Hawthorne collected three hits each to lead Jacksonville State to a 10-5 win over in-state foe Alabama State on Tuesday night at Choccolocco Park.
The Gamecocks improved to 19-14 overall and will return to action this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee for a three-game series with Belmont, beginning on Friday. The series gets started at 5 p.m. at Rose Park.
Daniel broke out of his weekend slump after not recording a hit in the three-game set with Southeast Missouri. The Guntersville, Alabama infielder finished 3-for-3 and reached base two more times with a pair of walks. Hawthorne, from Prattville, Alabama turned in a 3-for-5 performance at the plate, which was highlighted by a three-run blast in the eighth inning to give JSU a 9-5 cushion after nursing a 6-5 lead from the fifth inning. JSU added a fourth run in its last plate appearance for the five-run decision. Hawthorne's blast was the 15th of his career and the fifth this season. With his three hits, Daniel now has 10 multiple hit games and seven of those 10 games are three-hit performances. In his career, Daniel has posted 77 multiple hit games in three-plus seasons in a Gamecock uniform and tallied 25 three-hit games in his career.
The other storyline of the night was the pitching debut of sophomore Andrew Naismith. Naismith, who originally signed with the Hornets out of Auburn High School, but released from his National Letter of Intent after a coaching change at ASU, then became a Gamecock. The left hander was superb in three innings of work. After allowing a solo home run to the lead off batter, Joseph Estrada, Naismith settled in and allowed just two more hits. He recorded five strikeouts and benefited from a pair of inning-ending double plays in the first and second innings.
JSU manufactured single runs in its first two visits to the plate as junior Nic Gaddis delivered an RBI sacrifice fly in the first inning and freshman Alex Strachan blasted his second home run of the season with a solo home run to centerfield. JSU expanded the lead to 501 win after the third inning with a three-run third. Daniel and Hawthorne started the frame just like the first inning with a Daniel single and Hawthorne's second double of the contest. Gaddis came through with another RBI sacrifice fly along with an RBI by fielders choice by freshman Isaac Alexander.
Senior Grant Chandler was the first of five JSU pitchers used out of the bullpen. Chandler, making his 87th career appearance, was greeted with four hits by the Hornets that led to a pair of runs in the fourth inning. ASU evened the contest with another two-run inning in the next at bat. Gustavo Rios sent a pitch from redshirt sophomore Tyler Wilburn over the right field wall with two down in the inning to equalize.
Jax State bounced back to take the lead in the home half of the inning the third sacrifice fly of the night by the Gamecocks. Strachan registered his second two-RBI game with a fly ball to centerfield.
Wilburn would get the win and move to 3-2 on the season after JSU took the lead in the fifth. Freshmen Colin Casey and Christian Edwards combined to pitch the nest three innings and keep the Hornets off the board. Casey notched a pair of strikeouts, while Edwards fanned three more. Senior Trent Simpson tossed the ninth and capped off JSU's 15 strikeouts with two more in ASU's last chance inning.
Three other Gamecocks had a pair of hits to pace the order. Simpson collected two hits, while Hayden White had a single and double. White extended his hitting streak to 16 consecutive games. Redshirt freshman Grant Atkins tallied his first two-hit game as a Gamecock.
All three games with Belmont this weekend will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network and on the OVC Digital Network.
