JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State Baseball team wrapped up the 2021 regular season with a doubleheader sweep of Eastern Illinois to remain alive for the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Tournament next week.
The Gamecocks rallied from a 2-0 deficit to down the Panthers, 4-2, on junior
Alex Strachan's three-run home run in the fifth inning. Jax State offense put together a 15-hit outing in the second game to rout EIU, 10-0, in eight innings. After EIU score two runs in the first three innings of Friday's twinbill on Rudy Abbott Field at
Jim Case Stadium, the JSU pitching staff shutout EIU over the final 14 innings of the day.
JSU's tournament scenarios entering the final day of the regular season were to claim two wins and needing help from Murray State against Austin Peay. APSU won Thursday's opener and topped the Racers in the first game of the doubleheader in Murray, Kentucky to secure a spot in the four-team field. JSU still has a chance to make the tournament with a three-game sweep of Morehead State by Belmont. The Eagles and Bruins started the final series on Friday with the Bruins taking a 4-3 decision. A sweep by Bemont will put JSU in the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed.
In the opener, EIU was staked to a 2-0 lead through its first three plate appearances. JSU put its first run on the scoreboard in the third with an
Alex Carignan walk with the bases loaded.
Senior
Kyle Luigs started the middle game of an OVC series for third consecutive series. Luigs struggled through 3.1 but only allowed the two runs in the first three innings. Freshman
Camden Lovrich tossed 1.2 innings to keep it a one-run contest.
JSU put together a two-out run-scoring situation that was sparked by a single by senior
Alex Webb, followed by a base hit by Carignan. Strachan delivered the big hit with a three-run blast over the left field fence.
With a two-run lead, JSU welcomed back
Christian Edwards, who had not seen action on the mound since May 1. Edwards dominated the Panthers over the final four innings. He did not issue a hit and posted a pair of strikeouts in his 13 batters faced. Lovrich picked up his second win of the season, while Edwards posted his first save of the 2021 season and 10th save of his career.
Nash Adams, Carignan and Strachan all had multiple hits in the opener.
In the nightcap, junior
Colin Casey followed Edwards' lead on the mound with six complete innings of scoreless baseball and pitched with an early 5-0 lead through three innings. Casey limited EIU to a pair of hits and tallied five strikeouts.
Junior
Isaac Alexander had the first of his three RBI in the game with ground out RBI, followed by an RBI bunt from
Tanner Anderson. JSU added a third run on an errant pick off throw at third base.
Webb pushed the fourth run of the game across the dish on a ground out. Sophomore
Carson Crowe, who led JSU with a 4-for-4 game and reached base all five times at the plate, turned in an RBI single. Crowe finished with three singles and a leadoff triple in the seventh and scored on Alexander's ground out. Junior
Cole Frederick capped off his day with an RBI double in the seventh.
In the JSU eighth, freshman
Derrick Jackson, Jr. lifted a sacrifice fly RBI, followed by Alexander's final RBI on a double.
Frederick finished the weekend 7-for-13, including a double and scored four runs. Webb led the club with four RBI in the three games. JSU's pitching staff turned in a 2.42 earned run average against EIU.
