OXFORD – Jacksonville State wrapped up its regular season stay at Choccolocco Park on Tuesday with a 7-1 win over in-state foe UAB.
JSU, having played two full regular seasons at the Oxford facility while its state-of-the-art home facility is being built, collected its 27th win at Choccolocco Park. The Gamecocks will make make at least two more appearances at the signature field in Oxford with the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference commencing on Tuesday, May 22. Jax State's first game of the tournament will be on Wednesday, May 23. Entering the final weekend of the regular season, seven of the eight seeds remain open and seven of the eight spots have been secured.
The Gamecocks (27-23) will make the trek on Edwardsville, Illinois on Wednesday to prep for a three-game series with SIU Edwardsville that begins on Thursday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Simmons Baseball Complex on the SIUE campus. UAB dropped to 20-29 on the season.
Jax State took advantage of 10 combined walks by six different pitches and broke a scoreless deadlock in the fourth with five runs. Freshman Cole Frederick greeted UAB's Isiah Gonzales-Montoya with a two RBI single to give JSU a 3-0 lead. JSU pushed the first run on the board on a passed ball. Senior Clayton Daniel added a two RBI single back up the middle, scoring two more runs in the frame.
Daniel, who finished 3-for-5 and delivered three RBI, inched closer to JSU's career hits record of 323 career hits, held by former Gamecock Bert Smith. Smith's career mark is the all-time best in the OVC. Daniel has accumulated 318 career hts and is five hits shy of matching the record and six hits to establish a new program and league mark for hits in a career. He already owns the career doubles record at JSU and in the OVC. The Guntersville, Alabama infielder has 68 career doubles. Daniel posted his third hit of the day with an RBI single in the seventh. He now has 20 multiple hit games this season and nine three-hit games in 2018. His multiple RBI gave him five multiple RBI games this year. Daniel, who has played in 219 career games, has 94 multiple hit games as a Gamecock.
Freshman Alex Strachan reached base all five time he made a trip to the plate, including an RBI in the eighth. Strachan finished with two hits and walked three times. Frederick added two hits on the night.
Redshirt freshman Sean Rape had one of his best outings of the year as he went a career-long 5.0 innings and scattered five hits and had a career-best four strikeouts. The Gamecocks' bullpen issued one hit in the final four innings with UAB breaking up the shutout bid with a solo home run by Thomas Johns in the eighth. JSU's Corley Woods, Colton Pate, Austin Brewster and Christian Edwards each tossed an inning in relief.
Following Thursday's series opener at SIUE, the series will continue on Friday at 6 p.m. and conclude on Saturday at 1 p.m. The series will not be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.
