JACKSONVILLE - Jacksonville State wraps up the season-opening homestand this weekend, hosting Valparaiso in a three-game series on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

The series opener is set for 4 p.m. on Friday, followed by a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Tickets are available on JSUGamecockSports.com.  All JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free. The weekend format will prep JSU for Ohio Valley Conference plat as the league has switched to single game on the opening day of the weekend and a doubleheader on Saturday.

Last weekend the Gamecocks hosted a round robin event against Southern Illinois, Alabama State and Tennessee Tech.  JSU will be looking to snap a two-game skid after closing out the weekend with a loss to Tennessee Tech and a Tuesday setback to Alabama. Valpo makes its second consecutive trip to the state of Alabama after going 1-2 last weekend in Birmingham, Alabama against UAB. Valpo won the season opener before falling to the Blazers in the final two contests of the weekend.

Through four games, the Gamecocks are led by junior shortstop Isaac Alexander, who is hitting .286 on the season and leads the team in RBI. The Muscle Shoals, Alabama native recorded his first double of the season, driving in JSU's first run of the Alabama contest. Senior Tre Kirklin has picked up right where he left off in 2020 with a team-best five hits. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a solo home run on Tuesday. He finished the last eight games of the 2020 campaign riding an eight-game hitting streak and has recorded a hit in the first four games of the season.  The Kennesaw, Georgia senior has delivered four home runs in the 12-game hitting streak.

On the mound, JSU will stick to the same weekend rotation from last weekend with junior Christian Edwards toeing the rubber in the opening game on Friday. Junior Dylan Hathcock will start the first game of the doubleheader, while junior Colin Casey gets the starting nod in the series wrap up.  As a staff, the Gamecocks have collected 39 strikeouts in 36 innings of work and averaging over nine strikeouts per game. Freshman Jake Peppers leads to group of JSU arms with eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.

Defensively, the Gamecocks rank among the OVC leaders with a .980 fielding percentage and have only had three miscues on the season.  Opposing base runners found it tough to run on JSU's catchers as Alex Webb and Alex Carignan combined to throw six base runners out over the first four games of the season. 

Friday's game will be streamed on ESPN+ and aired on the Gamecock Sports Network.  Due to JSU hosting Austin Peay in men's and women's hoops on Saturday, the baseball doubleheader can be followed via live stats only.

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