JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State junior Isaac Alexander delivered a pair of runs and senior Kyle Luigs tossed three shutout innings to lead the Gamecocks to their first win of the 2021 season with a 5-3 win over Alabama State on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

JSU (1-1) bounced back after falling in the season opener on Friday to Southern Illinois on Friday.  JSU, who put together a four-team round robin tournament after games were canceled due to the weather.  The Gamecocks will close out the first weekend of the season with a rare non-conference contest with Ohio Valley Conference member Tennessee Tech.  The Golden Eagles fell to SIU in Saturday's opening game andralliedin the night cap for a 5-3 win over ASU.

The Gamecocks erased an early deficit against the Hornets by answering the opposition in their half of the inning. ASU generated the first run of the game with one-out single by AJ Gardner off of Jax State starter Dylan Hathcock in the second inning. Hathcock went the first four innings, scattering five Hornet hits and recording four strikeouts.

Alexander keyed JSU's two-run second with a two-out single back up the middle, scoring junior Alex Strachan, who started the inning with an infield single and Derrick Jackson, Jr. reached by walk.  Alexander picked up his second hit of the day with a single in the fourth. After ASU equalized in the fourth with another Gardner RBI single.

JSU broke the 2-2 deadlock in the home portion of the fourth after taking advantage of back-to-back hit-by-pitches and two walks by the Hornets. Senior Tre   issued the fourth free pass of the inning for the RBI.

Luigs, a graduate transfer from North Georgia, kept ASU off the bases for three innings as the righthander finished with three strikeouts and worked around a pair of walks.  The Richmond Hill, Georgia native was handed a three-run cushion to work with as JSU extended the lead with a two-run seventh. Senior Alex Webb slapped an RBI single to right field, followed by a sacrifice fly by Strachan.
Senior Corley Woods tossed the final two frames to preserve the win and record his first save of the season.

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