JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State collected a key ASUN West Division series after claiming the rubber game of the weekend with Lipscomb, 8-1, on Sunday at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

With the win the Gamecocks move within a game of the .500 mark overall (18-19) and a game out of the top spot in the division after the first weekend of the second go-around with each team in the division. JSU claimed five of the six outings with the Bisons (23-17, 11-7 ASUN) this season, including a sweep in Nashville in March. After two weekends on its home turf, JSU will travel to Florence, Alabama next weekend to visit the Lions of North Alabama, followed by a trip to Eastern Kentucky.

After dropping a 4-0 decision to LU on Friday night, the Gamecocks accumulated 24 runs in the final two games of the weekend on 21 hits and held the Bisons to a run on Saturday and Sunday.
JSU's offensive production was sparked by redshirt senior Luke Coker, who made his second consecutive start at third base on the weekend and just his fourth start of the season, as the Tuscaloosa, Alabama native collected three RBI in his first two at bats with singles. He delivered a two-out RBI in the third to score junior Carson Crowe, who started the inning with a double. In his plate appearance in the fourth inning, he drilled a single back up the middle, plating seniors Alex Strachan and Isaac Alexander after both were issued walks by LU starter Ike Buxton. Jax State pushed the lead to 4-0 followed Coker's second hit with RBI double from sophomore Mason Maners to finish the three-run frame.

Maners had three of JSU's nine hits in the contest to extend his hitting streak to eight games and added three more games to his consecutive games on-base streak that is now at 16. He now has the longest on-base streak on the club this season. Earlier in the season, junior T.J. Reeves strung together 15 games of reaching base. Reeves is in the midst of ten consecutive games reaching base after a single and a pair of walks on Sunday.

The four runs through four innings were all sophomore pitcher Jake Peppers needed. Peppers recorded his fourth win of the season with five innings of work, fanning seven Bisons and scattering four hits in the outing and did not give up a run. LU put its lone run of the contest on the scoreboard in the seventh with an RBI single in the seventh. Freshman AJ Causey worked the final 3.1 innings to collect his seventh save of the season and second against LU.

In the six games against Lipscomb, the Jax State pitching staff had an earned run average of 1.67 along with 46 strikeouts.

It will be a busy midweek for the Gamecocks with a pair of outings on Tuesday and Wednesday. JSU will look to complete another season series sweep of an in-state opponent when nationally ranked Auburn makes the trip to Jacksonville on Tuesday. JSU turned in a 5-2 win over the Tigers on March 29. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Following the AU match up, JSU will finish the home-and-home set with Mercer on Wednesday evening. Wednesday's game will be military appreciation night in conjunction with JSU's ROTC. Free JSU patriotic t-shirts will be handed out to the fans arriving at the stadium.

Tickets for both games are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. Admission for JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger is free. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.