EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Jacksonville State positioned itself to finish the regular season with a sweep and improve its final standing in the Ohio Valley Conference with a series-clinching, 7-5, win over SIU Edwardsville  in a persistent rain at the Simmons Complex.

The win secures JSU's sixth OVC weekend series of the season and improved to 29-23 overall and 17-12 in OVC action.  Entering the final day of the regular season, tournament seeds, No. 2-6 have yet to be determined.  The Cougars fell to 15-37 on the season and 6-23 against conference foes.

The Gamecocks broke open a 1-1 game with back-to-back three-spots in the fifth and sixth.  Freshman Isaac Alexander, who was one of three JSU hitters with three hits on the night, delivered a two-out, two-RBI triple in the fifth to give Jax State a lead that it would not relinquish the rest of the way.   Sophomore Andrew Naismith, who joined Alexander with a three-hit night, followed him with an RBI single.

Jax State posted three more runs in its next trip to the plate, highlighted by senior Trent Simpson's two-out RBI double.  Junior Nic Gaddis, who has touched SIUE pitching for six hits in two games, finished Friday night with a three-hit day, including a two-out triple in the third and scored on Simpson's ball that was misplayed by the Cougar infield.  Gaddis drove in the first run in the sixth.

Senior Clayton Daniel moved within one hit of the JSU and OVC record for hits in a career with two hits on Friday night.  He will enter the regular season finale one hit shy of matching the record, held by former Gamecock Bert Smith.  Smith accumulated 323 career hits from 2006-2010.

It was another quality OVC outing for junior Derrick Adams on the mound en route to picking up his fifth win of the season – all coming against OVC clubs.  The Decatur, Alabama lefty issued one run in five innings of work and scattered seven hits.  Adams recorded a pair of strikeouts and worked his way out of early inning trouble on multiple occasions.

SIUE clawed its way back in to the game in the seventh with a four-run frame after stringing together four hits.  Senior Grant Chandler, who made his 93rd appearance on the mound, finished the seventh and pitched the eighth.  Freshman Christian Edwards made his second showing of the weekend and finished the contest for his third save of the year.

The final game of the weekend will get started at 1 p.m. on Saturday.