JACKSONVILLE – Central Arkansas walked away with a 2-1, 10-inning win over Jacksonville State in its first visit on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

UCA plated the winning run with a bases-loaded, two-out walk by Drew Sturgeon to bring home Kol Johnson, who started the extra inning with an infield single. UCA's Trent Gregson worked around a one-out single by JSU sophomore Mason Maners to record his fourth save of the season.

Maners was able to solve both Bears' pitchers with a two-hit night at the plate. The Vestavia Hills, Alabama native has now reached base in 23-of-the-last-26 games and pushed his hitting streak to five games. With his two hits, he extended his ASUN games-only on-base streak to 19 consecutive games. Maners also added his ninth league game with multiple hits.

It was a pitchers' duel in a game that lasted just over two and half hours. UCA's Tyler Cleveland worked the first nine innings and scattered six JSU hits. The lone run he was touched for was an RBI double by Jax State senior Cole Frederick in the sixth. Cleveland posted 12 strikeouts on 131 pitches on the night and issued a pair of walks. Gregson recorded a pair of strikeouts in his inning of work.
JSU sophomore Reid Fagerstrom went toe-to-toe with Cleveland's performance. Fagerstrom tossed a career-high 6.2 innings in the no decision and fanned five Bears. The only hiccup by Fagerstrom came in the second inning with a leadoff walk that was manufactured into the first run of the night between the two clubs. Freshman AJ Causey finished the seventh after a UCA scoring threat and worked out of a jam in two of the three complete innings. He was saddled with the loss on Friday.

The Gamecocks were able to put a run-scoring inning in the sixth. Maners beat out an infield single with one out in the inning, followed by Frederick's double just inside the third base bag, scoring Maners from first base. Frederick, listed fourth on JSU's all-time hits list inched closer to third place with the double. He now has 269 career hits and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Jax State senior Isaac Alexander finished with multiple hits in the setback. Alexander now has nine multi-hit games on the season, including five against ASUN competition.

The series continues with a Saturday night contest at 6 p.m. Tickets are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. JSU students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network. The Gamecocks will honor the senior class prior to the start of the game.