BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Jacksonville State baseball team wrapped up its non-conference road schedule and the month of April with an 11-5 win over in-state rival Samford on Tuesday night at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
The Gamecocks' win was powered by three home runs and three doubles as they scored multiple runs in five of the nine frames. JSU started strong with a 5-0 lead in the first two innings and kept adding runs throughout in the contest. The win moved JSU to 24-20 on the season and gained a split with SU in the two-game season set between the two clubs. The win avenged a 5-3 loss to the Bulldogs back on March 5 on Rudy Abbott Field at
Jim Case Stadium. It also snapped a four-game losing skid to Samford and the first win on the Bulldogs' diamond since 2015. The Bulldogs dropped to 33-13 overall.
Junior
Tre Kirklin led all Gamecocks with a three-hit night, including an RBI double in the second inning and one of the three JSU home runs on the night against Samford arms. The Kennesaw, Georgia outfielder extended JSU's lead to 7-3 in the fourth inning after SU trimmed a 5-0 deficit to 5-3 in the home half of the third inning. Kirklin was involved in JSU's two-run seventh with a bunt single and scored on junior
Alex Webb's bases-loaded two-run double for the final scoring of the night for the Gamecocks.
Senior
Nic Gaddis started the scoring early as JSU took advantage of a Samford error and a single by Webb. Gaddis delivered JSU's 50th home run of the season with a three-run blast over the left center wall. Sophomore
Alex Strachan added his name to the home run list with a towering two-run home run in the fifth.
Junior
Devin Brown added two hits on the night as Jax State finished with 11 total hits.
The trio of
Trey Fortner,
Michael Gilliland and
Jackson Tavel held the Bulldogs to the five runs on eight hits and combined for eight strikeouts. Fortner tossed the first 2.2 innings and recorded two strikeouts. Gilliland, a freshman left from Boaz, Alabama, already had one good outing against Samford in the first contest with four-plus innings of work and struck out five Bulldogs. On Tuesday, he mirrored that outing with 4.1 innings of work and allowed a pair of hits to the Bulldogs. Gilliland added three more strikeouts to his seasons' total versus Samford. He notched his second win of the season as both have come against in-state programs (Auburn, Samford). Tavel capped off the evening with the final two frames and collected three strikeouts.
The Gamecocks, who enter the weekend with a share of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, travel to Martin, Tennessee this weekend for a three-game series with the Skyhawks of UT Martin. The series will get started from Skyhawk Field on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 4 p.m. Saturday contest and a 1 p.m. series finale on Sunday. All three games will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.
