MARION, Ill. – The Jacksonville State baseball team will begin its run for a fifth Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship on Thursday against Belmont at Rent One Park in Marion, Illinois.
The top-seeded Gamecocks and Bruins will get the third day of the tournament started at 11 a.m. The Bruins downed fifth-seeded Murray State, 8-1, on Wednesday in the first of four games on the day. Belmont's Casey Queener turned in a complete-game performance, limiting the Racers to a run on four hits and posting nine strikeouts.
Thursday's contest will be the fourth meeting of the season between the two clubs after JSU claimed the regular season series over the Bruins on Rudy Abbott Field at
Jim Case Stadium on April 12-13. The Gamecocks claimed the series opener, 9-9, and rallied after Belmont evened the series in the first game of a doubleheader. The Gamecocks finished the series with a 9-4 decision in the series-deciding contest. The Gamecocks and Bruins will be meeting for just the second time in the OVC Tournament. Belmont eliminated JSU in the 2013 postseason tournament, 6-3, in Jackson, Tennessee.
The 2019 OVC regular season champions are led by the six All-Ohio Valley Conference selections. Senior
Nic Gaddis, juniors
Alex Webb and
Garrett Farmer were named to the league's first team, while sophomore
Cole Frederick was placed on the All-OVC Second Team. Jax State had two freshmen earn All-OVC Freshman Team distinction with
Isaiah Magwood and
Carson Crowe. JSU Head Coach
Jim Case was voted by his peers as the 2019 OVC Coach of the Year.
Farmer, who was named the 2019 OVC Pitcher of the Year, will get the starting nod in the tournament opener against the Bruins. Farmer became just the second player from JSU to be named OVC Pitcher of the Year, joining Joe McGuire from 2017. He showed great control on the mound ranking third nationally in strikeout-to-walk-ratio (9.90), seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (0.97), 12th in WHIP (0.91) and 52nd in E.R.A. (2.32). Over 93 innings pitched, Farmer struck out 99 batters and walked only 10 while holding batters to a .220 batting average. The junior struck out 12 batters against each Florida International and in his final start of the season at Austin Peay. Over the last six games of the year (all OVC opponents), he walked only three total batters. His 6.64 innings pitched per outing was tops among OVC pitchers (Farmer had seven starts of seven innings or longer).
Against the Bruins on Friday, April 12, Famer posted seven scoreless innings and limited BU to a pair of hits. He finished with five strikeouts.
The game will be available on ESPN+ and the Gamecock Sports Network will carry all JSU games.
