JACKSONVILLE – Bellarmine evened the ASUN West Division weekend series on Friday with a 4-3 win over Jacksonville State to force a series-deciding contest in the weekend finale on Saturday.

The Knights (7-27, 5-9 ASUN) delivered timely hits and with a pair of RBI in the sixth to break up a 1-1 deadlock along with seven complete innings from lefty Gavin Braunecker, who allowed a first inning run and nothing else to the JSU. He turned in nine strikeouts on the night and wiggled out trouble in four of the seven-plus innings he was on the mound after JSU (14-18, 8-6 ASUN) put the leadoff man on base but could not get the runs across the plate.

The Gamecocks stranded seven on the base paths. After getting out of a first-and-third situation in the fourth inning, Braunecker retired the next eight Jax State hitters before an Isaac Alexander single in the seventh. BU's Nick Parrish earned his first save of the season with two innings of work. The two runs he issued came on a two-out, two-run home run to left field from Alexander.

Bellarmine took the lead on a one-out RBI from Colin Bertsch, scoring Matt Higgins who reached on a hit by pitch and took second on a mishandled pick off play by the Gamecocks. The hiccup by JSU opened the door for the RBI single and a two-out RBI in the inning. Dylan Hathcock suffered the loss out of the bullpen. Freshman Tanner Jones pitched the first five innings and allowed a run on three hits and fanned four in the outing.

Alexander was joined by senior Cole Frederick with a multi-hit game along with senior Alex Carignan. Carignan drove in JSU's first run of the night with a two-out double in the first. Senior Alex Strachan and junior T.J. Reeves both had doubles in the setback.

Sunday's rubber game of the series will get started at 1 p.m. on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network. Tickets are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free.