MARION, Ill. – Top-seeded Jacksonville State advanced in the winners bracket of the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament with its ninth walk-off win of the season with Alex Strachan's lead off blast in the 10th inning to down Belmont, 6-5, on Thursday at Rent One Park.

The dramatic finish was Jax State's 10th last at-bat win of the season and the seventh by way of a home run.  Strachan drilled a payoff pitch from Belmont's Kyle Brennan to straight centerfield (400 feet) to give the Gamecocks the win.  Strachan, from Madison, Alabama, has become accustomed to being involved with walk-off wins as he belted the game-tying home run in the ninth against then-eighth-ranked Georgia and had the game-winning single in the 11th to knock off the Bulldogs on May 8 on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.  JSU has had six last at-bat win in its last nine games and pushed its mark to 7-0 in extra innings.

The Gamecocks collected their 10th consecutive win, which ranks third in NCAA Division I Baseball through games-played on Wednesday.  Central Michigan has reeled off 15 straight wins, while UC Santa Barbara has claimed 13 wins in a row.  JSU will face either No. seed Austin Peay or No. 6 seed Eastern Kentucky on Friday at 11 a.m.



JSU was in cruise control with a two-run, 3-1, lead through the first eight innings as Belmont touched Gamecock starter Garrett Farmer for a run on two hits in the second inning.  Farmer, who was named the OVC Pitcher of the Year earlier in the week, handcuffed the Bruins the rest of the way.  The Huntsville, Alabama native went 7.2 innings on Thursday and added five more strikeouts on the season and for his career total.  Farmer needed one strikeout to reach the 100 strikeouts in a season plateau and achieved that feat with a strike out of the first Bruin he faced.  The righty became the second Gamecock all-time to have two 100-plus strikeout seasons during a career.  Farmer overtook former Gamecock pitcher Bryan Williamson (1995-99) as the all-time leader in career strikeouts.  Williamson posted 262 career strikeouts before Farmer overtook the top spot with 266 career strikeouts.

Jax State answered Belmont's run in the top half of the frame with a three-run bottom half – all with two outs.  Strachan started the rally with a one-out double to left field, followed by a two-out single by freshman Carson Crowe and a walk by Nash Adams to load the bases.  Junior Tre Kirklin laced a two-RBI single to right field to give JSU the lead.  Sophomore Cole Frederick beat out an infield single for the third RBI of the inning.  Frederick extended his hitting streak to 16 games with the hit.  Frederick posted a three hits on the day, including a two-out single to keep the Gamecocks alive in the ninth.  Frederick would score the game-tying run on a bloop double by junior Alex Webb.

The Gamecocks needed the two runs in the ninth after Belmont put together a two-out rally in the visitors half of the inning.  After Jackson Tavel fanned the first two hitters, a pair of walks by Christian Edwards and two bloop singles to right field, the Bruins took a 5-3 lead in to JSU's last at bat in regulation.

Junior Corley Woods, who pitched a clean top of the 10th, moved to 6-0 on the season out of the bullpen.

Friday's contest will be available on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.