BIRMINGHAM – Jacksonville State picked up a much-needed win on Tuesday night with a 5-3 win over in-state rival UAB at Regions Field.
The Gamecocks snapped a five-game losing streak and moved to 3-5 on the season and will be looking to maintain the momentum from Tuesday's win in to Wednesday's contest at Troy. The two longtime time rivals will face off at 6 p.m. JSU's win over the Blazers was the fifth consecutive win over UAB, dating back to the 2016 season. UAB suffered its second loss of the season and moved to 6-2 overall.
Jax State posted a come-from-behind win after the Blazers recorded a pair of unearned runs. A Gamecock miscue in the second opened the door for UAB's first run of the game. Nathan Anthes registered a two-out single, scoring the first run. JSU starter
Dylan Hathcock looked to be out of the fourth inning, but JSU's second error of the night was costly. UAB's Carter Pharis beat a throw home after a ground out back to the pitcher.
Hathcock, who made his first career start, was solid in a career-high four innings of work. He was touched for four hits and the two runs. He finished with a strikeout and did not issue a walk.
JSU's offense started clicking in the fifth with
Isaac Alexander and
Cole Frederick with back-to-back hits to start the frame. Alexander, who finished with two hits on the night, moved to third on Frederick's second double of the contest. Junior
Chase Robinson picked up an RBI with a ground ball out to the right side, followed by JSU's second double of the inning with
Carson Crowe's double down the right field line. Junior
Tre Kirklin, who went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the leadoff spot, lifted a fly ball to left field for the sacrifice fly.
UAB equalized with a two-out inside-the-park home run off the bat of Tyler Tolbert. Tolbert's hot found the gap in the spacious Regions Field outfield.
The Gamecocks regained the lead in the seventh with a pair of key two-out hits. Crowe, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, stretched a hit to centerfield in to a double. Kirklin laced a single through the middle, scoring Crowe. JSU extended the lead in the eighth with a bases-loaded RBI walk by
Alex Strachan.
JSU's bullpen scattered four hits over the final five innings and tallied five strikeouts. Junior transfer
Jackson Tavel earned his second win of the season with three innings of work after JSU took the lead. Sophomore
Christian Edwards struck out the UAB side in the ninth for the save.
The win marked another milestone in head coach
Jim Case's 18-year career. He reached the 550 career wins mark with the win over his former employer. Ironically, his 500th career win came against the Blazers as well.
Troy enters the first of two games with Jax State this season with a 4-3 record. The game will be available on Facebook Live via Troy's athletics Facebook page. Links to the Facebook stream, live audio and live stats will be available on JSUGamecockSports.com.
