JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State claimed the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader with Belmont to win its third Ohio Valley Conference weekend in a row with a bounce-back 9-4 decision on Rudy Abbott Field at
Jim Case Stadium.
The Gamecocks entered the weekend in a logjam at the top of the OVC standings and after reaching the midpoint of the conference race, they are tied with Murray State with identical 10-5 marks in the OVC. Jax State improved to 19-16 overall, while the Bruins finished the weekend 16-19 on the season and 11-7 against conference competition. The Bruins forced a third-and-deciding game in the series with a 7-1 win in the opening game.
Jax State used two big innings in the final game of the series as it broke a scoreless contest with a five-run second inning and a four-run third frame. The highlight of the second inning was a two-out, bases-clearing triple by junior
Devin Brown. Redshirt freshman
Nash Adams laid down an RBI bunt single and sophomore
Cole Frederick kept the inning alive with a double just inside the third base bag.
Brown, a transfer from Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, collected four hits on the night and accumulated four RBI. The Smiths, Alabama native posted his fourth RBI with a single to centerfield in the third. He added singles in the fifth and the seventh. Brown is the third Gamecock within a week to have a four-hit outing at the plate. Frederick and junior
Alex Webb had four hits each against Southeast Missouri last Sunday in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
JSU, who entered the weekend leading the OVC in triple and ranked 12th in NCAA Division I Baseball in triples, added its 16th triple of the season with Frederick's triple to the gap in right center to extend the lead to 9-1 after three innings. As a team, Jax State totaled 11 hits in the affair as Adams, and Frederick all had multiple hits.
Four Gamecock pitchers combined to allow just one earned run by Belmont.
Dylan Hathcock tossed the first 2.1 innings, followed by
Christian Edwards,
Jackson Tavel and
Austin Brewster. Edwards, who was stretched to 2.2 innings of work, registered the win and moved to 4-3 on the season. Belmont starter Korey Bell suffered the loss in the second game.
In game one, the Bruins' Joshua South tossed a complete game to lead Belmont to the win. South kept the Gamecocks off-balanced all nine innings and scattered three hits. JSU's lone run came by way of a
Carson Crowe home run in the sixth. It was Crowe's third of the season and second against OVC pitching. Adams and Alexander had the other two hits.
With no game on Sunday, JSU will get an extra day on the short week with the Easter holiday next weekend. JSU returns to OVC action with a road trip to Richmond, Kentucky for a three-game series with the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky. The series will get started on Thursday at Turkey Hughes Field at 5 p.m. CST. The series continues Friday with a 3 p.m. CST first pitch. The series wraps up next Saturday at Noon CST.
Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, while all three will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.
