OXFORD, Miss. – Jacksonville State saw its 12-game winning streak come to a halt on Friday night in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Oxford Regional after falling to host-Ole Miss 16-2 at UM's Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field.

The loss, in front of 9,810, drops the Gamecocks into the elimination bracket of the four-team field and will have to bounce back on Saturday against Illinois to stay alive in postseason play.  The Fighting Illini, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, fell to in Friday's first game of the day to Clemson, the third seed.  First pitch is set for 12 p.m.  The contest will be available on ESPN3 and aired on the Gamecock Sports Network.

For the first time since May 6 JSU (37-22) tasted defeat as it put together s string of 12 straight wins en route to winning the regular season title and the tournament championship in the Ohio Valley Conference.  The Rebels, the national 12-seed and top-seed in Oxford, improved to 38-25 and advances to Saturday's winners bracket contest with Clemson at 6 p.m.

Jax State got off to a quick start against Rebel starter Will Etheridge in the opening frame of the contest.  Junior Tre Kirklin led off the game with a double to the gap in right centerfield and scored on junior Alex Webb's ground ball out to shortstop.  Webb's groundout started a string a 20 consecutive Gamecock batters retired by Etheridge.  Senior Nic Gaddis broke the string with a with a two-out double in the seventh.  Gaddis scored on an RBI single by sophomore Isaac Alexander for JSU's second run of the game.  JSU's three hits is the fewest by the club since April 13 against Belmont.  The Gamecocks were limited to three hits in that setback.

Etheridge went seven complete innings with three strikeouts and did not walk a Gamecock.  Taylor Broadway finished the final two innings for the Rebels.

While Etheridge was keeping Jax State's offense quiet, Ole Miss touched Gamecock starter Garrett Farmer for 10 runs (five earned runs) on eight hits in the first 4.2 innings of work.  Farmer had an uncharacteristic outing on Friday with four walks and finished with six strikeouts.

UM posted runs in six of its eight plate appearances and took advantage of two Gamecock errors that led to a five-run fifth and added five more in the seventh with two outs in both innings.  Before the Rebels had the two big innings, they took the lead in the home half of the first inning with a pair of runs and threatened for more, but Farmer avoided the big inning.  The OVC Pitcher of the Year held UM off the scoreboard in the second inning before it expanded the lead in the third and a run in the fourth.

JSU used redshirt junior Tyler Wilburn for two innings, while senior Cody Willingham tossed an inning before freshman Michael Gilliland recorded the final out for JSU pitchers.  The Rebels combined for 15 hits with four different players having multiple hits.