JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State baseball team fell in the final contest of the ASUN West weekend series with Eastern Kentucky, 10-5, on Sunday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field at
Jim Case Stadium.
The final day of the weekend set was a picture-perfect day on the JSU campus as 1,221, the fifth-largest attendance inside
Jim Case Stadium was welcomed by the Atlanta Braves' organist Matthew Kaminski, who performed tunes throughout the contest and Blooper, the Braves mascot was also in attendance.
In a battle for the top spot in the early going of the ASUN 30-game slate, the Gamecocks dropped to 12-14 overall and 6-3 in the West, while EKU improved to 21-8 on the season and are now the front-runners in the Division with an 8-1 mark. Jax State will make its first-ever trip to Conway, Arkansas next weekend for a road ASUN set with the Bears of Central Arkansas. The series will start on Friday, April 8 on the UCA campus.
The story of the weekend was EKU's offense as it put together 11 hits, including four extra base hits with the highlight being a grand slam in the fifth inning to break open a tight contest. The Colonels used a four-run second inning and the four runs in the fifth. EKU plated two more runs in the sixth. EKU's Kendal Ewing went 4-for-5 on the day, while Connor Davis delivered six RBI on three hits to lead the Maroon and White offensive charge.
EKU's pitching kept JSU's bats from stringing a big inning together until a three-run double by senior
Alex Carignan cleaned the bases to make an 8-4 game in the fifth. Carignan had five hits on the weekend along with five RBI. EKU's Niko Leontarakis moved to 4-0 on the season after five innings with eight strikeouts.
JSU sophomore
Camden Lovrich was saddled with the loss and dropped to 1-1 on the season. The Gamecocks used three arms out of the bullpen with senior
Dylan Hathcock, freshman
AJ Causey and sophomore
Jake Peppers. The quartet combined for 11 strikeouts on the day.
The Gamecocks' five0game road trip begins on Tuesday, April 5 with a visit to Montgomery, Alabama to face the Hornets of Alabama State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on the ASU campus. The game will be carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
