CHARLESTION, Ill. – Jacksonville State opened its 2020 Ohio Valley Conference slate with a split of a doubleheader with Eastern Illinois on Saturday at Coaches Stadium on the EIU campus.

The Gamecocks started the day with a 6-4 win in the opener, while the Panthers bounced back to force a series rubber game on Sunday with a 4-0 decision in game two of the twinbill.  Sunday's series finale will be at 1 p.m. and will be available on the Gamecock Sports Network.

Senior Tre Kirklin's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning of the first game gave JSU a 5-4 lead after the Panthers had rallied to knot the contest.  Kirklin, from Kennesaw, Georgia, turned in three hits in the opener and added a bunt single in the second game.  Sophomore Carson Crowe gave Jax State some breathing room for the ninth with a solo home run over the fight field wall in the Gamecocks' final at bat. 

Jax State started strong with an 10 a.m. first pitch, giving redshirt junior pitcher Dylan Hathcock an early lead.  Senior Alex Webb had an RBI in the inning, but EIU's Will Klein escaped a big inning by JSU to get out of a bases loaded jam.  The Gamecocks continued to add run support for Hathcock with a two-run fourth inning.  Kirklin had the first of his two RBI in the contest with a single to left field, followed by a double by senior Chase Robinson.  Robinson had two double in the opener and reached base three times.  Kirklin, Robinson and Tanner Anderson all had multiple hits in the game.

EIU tagged a run on Hathcock in the fifth before adding three runs in the sixth to even the contest.  Hathcock, who did not figure in to the decision, went 5.1 innings and struck out one and walked one.  EIU string together a four-hit inning and took advantage of a JSU miscue to get back in the game.

Junior Colin Casey finished the sixth inning before senior Corley Woods finished the last three frames.  Woods posted a pair of strikeouts en route to his first win of the season.

In game two, it was EIU's ability to get RBI singles with two outs and its starter Blake Malatestinic eight innings of shutout pitching.  EIU's Ryan Ignoffo put the Panthers on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the second inning.  His home run was the only non-two-iut RBI that the Panthers recorded.  EIU added RBI in the fourth, fifth and eighth.

Malatestinic held JSU to five hits and retired 11 consecutive Gamecocks from the fourth inning to Kirklin's bunt single in the eighth inning.  JSU's big threat came in the fourth inning with the bases loaded, but the right hander got out of the jam.  He notched his third win of the season, while Isaiah Magwood was saddled with the loss.

Webb, Crowe, Isaac Alexander and Alex Carignan all had hits in the second game.  

For more information on the JSU baseball team, follow the Gamecocks on Twitter and Instagram (@JSUGamecocksBB). For more on all Gamecocks sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of JSU Athletics on Twitter (@JSUGamecocks), Facebook (Facebook.com/JSUGamecocks), Instagram (@JSUGamecocks).