OXFORD – Jacksonville State dropped its final Ohio Valley Conference home contest on Sunday with an 8-1 setback to UT Martin at Choccolocco Park.
The Gamecocks, who wrapped up the weekend series by claiming the first two outings of the series on Friday and Saturday. JSU topped the Skyhawks 9-3 in the series opener and clinched the series with a 6-5 win. JSU enters the final week of the regular season at 26-23 overall and 15-12 in OVC play. The Gamecocks, who have sealed up a spot in the 2018 OVC Baseball Championship, will head to SIU Edwardsville next weekend still jockeying for seeding in the eight-team field. The tournament will get started on Tuesday, May 22 at Choccolocco Park. UTM improved to 11-37 overall and 7-20 in conference play.
UTM took control early and rode the arm of Sam Folks for the first six innings to salvage the final game of the weekend. The Skyhawks plated two runs in the first inning off of JSU starter Andrew Naismith, who was inserted in the weekend rotation this weekend. Naismith was facing his first OVC opposition of the season and just his third appearance of the season. UTM's Tyler Albright, who finished the day 3-for-4 and drove in four runs, started the scoring with a two-run home run in the first inning.
The Skyhawks broke the game open with a four-run second inning, highlighted by Albright's one-out double down the right field line. The top-three of the UTM order drove in all eight runs and accounted for six of the 11 hits. Jordan Stoner had three RBI, while Ben Aslett had an RBI.
Folks, who handcuffed the Gamecocks in the outing, issued the lone Jax State run in the third inning. Senior Clayton Daniel extended his JSU and OVC career doubles record to 68 career two-baggers with a 1-out double. After moving to third on a wild pitch, junior Nic Gaddis lifted a fly ball to centerfield for the RBI. The Daniel hit was No. 315 for the Guntersville, Alabama native as he now stands eight hits shy of matching the program's all-time career hits record and the OVC record for career hits. Former Gamecock Bert Smith currently holds both marks with 323 career hits.
Folks was touched for five hits and collected six strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. He scattered five hits, including two by JSU senior Taylor Hawthorne.
Hawthorne, the only Gamecock with multiple hits, had a double in his first at bat and added a triple in the fifth. JSU had base runner in eight of the nine plate appearances, but could not get a rally going as it stranded eight in the loss.
Freshmen Isaac Alexander, Cole Frederick and Grant Atkins all had hits in the contest.
Before the Gamecocks make the trek to Edwardsville, Illinois for the final OVC series that starts on Thursday night, they will close out the home portion of the 2018 campaign against UAB. JSU will be looking to sweep the Blazers in the season series after posting a 4-2 win at Regions Field in Birmingham on February 27. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Choccolocco Park.
