JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State baseball team split a Saturday doubleheader with SIU Edwardsville on Saturday at Rudy Abbott Field at
Jim Case Stadium.
After falling 4-3 in the series opener on Friday night, Jax State bounced back in a loud way with a 10-0 rout of the Cougars, but dropped the rubber game of the weekend series, 4-2. SIUE picked up its first series win over JSU since 2015. With two weekends remaining on the Ohio Valley Conference docket, JSU enters the stretch at 13-11 in conference play, while SIUE makes the trek home at 12-12 after the weekend. The Gamecocks will travel to Austin Peay next weekend before putting a wrap on the OVC schedule in two weeks hosting Eastern Illinois.
In the opener, the Gamecocks jumped on the scoreboard with five runs in the third inning and that was all redshirt junior pitcher
Trey Fortner needed in relief as he tossed five solid innings out of the bullpen after senior
Kyle Luigs was inserted into the weekend rotation and got the game under control in the first three frames. Fortner established a new career high in strikeouts with seven in the outing and scattered four Cougar hits. He retired 10 in a row over three innings before allowing his fourth hit by SIUE.
In Jax State's five-run third inning, it strung together five hits which was started by junior
Cole Frederick, who finished the first game 4-for-4 with three RBI. His second single of the day drove in the first run of the contest. Junior
Nash Adams had one of his three RBI on the first of two sacrifice flies by him. Senior
Alex Webb produced a run with a double, followed by a pair of two-out RBI singles by sophomore
Carson Crowe and junior
Alex Carignan. Crowe and Carignan had multiple hits in the contest. Crowe finished the day with four hits against SIUE pitching.
The Gamecock offense continued to cushion the lead two runs in the fourth and the fifth along with the final run in the seventh inning. Adams was issued a walk with the bases loaded in the fourth inning and senior
Jaylyn Williams turned in a sacrifice fly in the frame. Frederick added a two-run single with two outs in the fifth inning. Adams finished the scoring with his second sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Jax State will remain one of the top teams in NCAA Division I Baseball in sacrifice flies after entering the weekend ranked 10th in the nation in that category.
In the finale, SIUE's Brant Glidewell kept the JSU offense cool with eight innings of work and allowing five hits. He did not strike out a Gamecock but had 16 ground ball outs in his 30 batters faced. The Cougars gave him a lead with a two-out RBI single in the second and added a run in the third. SIUW added an insurance run in the sixth.
Webb broke up the shutout with a two-run home run in the ninth. It was 20th of his career as a Gamecock and the eighth of the season.
The Gamecocks will conclude their home non-conference schedule on Wednesday, May 12 against Alabama State. JSU will be looking to sweep the season series with ASU after topping the Hornets in Jacksonville during the opening weekend of the season and posting a 14-10 decision over ASU in Montgomery on April 7. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Tickets are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. All fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free.
