CONWAY, Ark. – Central Arkansas rallied for three runs in the ninth to claim Sunday's series-deciding contest, 5-4, at Bear Stadium on the UCA campus.

UCA's RJ Pearson delivered the game-winning hit with a single to right field, driving in the winning run. The Bears, who entered the last chance down 4-2, started the inning with a hit by pitch from JSU's AJ Causey, followed by a single through the left side. After a sacrifice bunt to put the tying runs into scoring position, UCA's Noah Argenta delivered a one-out single and took second on a throw from right field to get the winning run into scoring position.

With the win, the Gamecocks dropped their second straight ASUN West Division series and dropped to 13-16 overall and 7-5 in the ASUN West Division. UCA improves 13-17 on the season and 8-4 in conference play. JSU remains on the road with a Tuesday trip to Troy to face the Trojans. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.

Jax State, who had trouble maintaining leads on Saturday and Sunday, took a two-run lead on sophomore Mason Maners' two-out, two-run double off the left field wall. Causey was working in his third inning when the Bears scored the three runs off him as he dropped to 1-3 on the season.

JSU made a switch in the Sunday starting pitchers role with sophomore Jake Peppers inserted into the rotation. Peppers was superb in five innings of work, establishing a new career-high in strikeouts by fanning nine in in his 19 batters faced. He was touched for one hit – a leadoff triple in the fourth, followed by a sacrifice fly for the first run of the day.

The Gamecocks collected their fifth home run of the weekend with freshman Brennen Norton blasting a two-run home run in the sixth to give JSU a 2-1 lead. The Gamecocks had ample chances throughout the game, but stranded 10 on the base paths, including four consecutive innings with two runners on base.

Junior TJ Reeves had a hit along with a single from Alex Carignan to extend his hitting streak to six games. Brooks Bryan and Isaac Alexander turned in hits in the setback. Bryan and Alexander's double in the eighth set the table for Maners' run-scoring double.