RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky salvaged the final game of the weekend series with a game-winning two-run home run in the ninth to edge Jacksonville State, 7-5, on Saturday afternoon at Earle Combs Stadium on the EKU campus.

The Gamecocks, who entered the holiday weekend tied atop the Ohio Valley Conference standings, exits the EKU set alone in first place at 12-6 despite dropping Saturday's contest.  JSU dropped to 21-17 overall, while EKU moved to 23-17 on the season and 10-8 in the OVC.

Jax State will now turn its attention to a big week on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium with nationally-ranked Auburn visiting campus on Tuesday, April 23.  JSU will face Alabama on Wednesday, April 24.  Both games against the Southeastern Conference foes will get started at 6 p.m.  Limited tickets are available for both midweek outings.  Reserved tickets for each match up are $20, while general admission tickets are $15. General admission tickets do not reserve a seat in the main seating area but are good for the berm down the left field line or for standing room on the concourse. Tickets are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com/Tickets and at the JSU Athletic Ticket office at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Tickets will also be available at the box office at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

Following the midweek action, JSU will host Morehead State in a pivotal OVC weekend series.  The Eagles are a game back of JSU and were picked to win the league in the preseason.  The series will get started on Friday at 6 p.m.

EKU's Nick Howie delivered the game-winning two-run home run in the Colonels final at bat with one in the inning.  Howie finished the day with a pair of hits and scored twice.

The two clubs combined for six of the 12 total runs in the first inning.  Sophomore Isaac Alexander plated JSU's first two runs on a two-out triple in the first inning.  It was his fourth of the season and JSU's league-leading 17th of the season. 

The Colonels answered with four runs in their half of the inning, highlighted by a pair of run-scoring, two-out doubles and put JSU in a come-from-behind mode.  The Gamecocks began the cutting into the lead in the fourth with a solo home run off the bat of junior Chase Robinson.  Robinson's home run was the second in the series and the sixth on the season.

The Colonels extended the lead in the same frame with an RBI by Will Johnson.  That would be the final run for EKU until the home run in the ninth.

Freshman Carson Crowe posted a game-tying home run to lead off the seventh inning.  It was Crowe's second hit of the day after a double earlier in the contest.  The Tuscaloosa, Alabama product also had two home runs on the weekend.  As a team, the Gamecocks blasted 10 home runs out of Turkey Hughes Field, including eight on Thursday night.  The eight home runs matched a program record and broke JSU's NCAA Division I mark for home runs in a game.

Sophomore Cole Frederick added two hits on the day and turned in his second multi-hit contest of the weekend.

Senior Austin Brewster was issued the loss, while EKU's Aaron Ochsenbein picked up the win.

All five games upcoming games will be available on ESPN+ and on the Gamecock Sports Network.