ATHENS, Ga. – Junior Mason Maners delivered a two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning to break up a 5-5 deadlock to lift Jacksonville State to an 8-5 win over Georgia on Opening Day of the 2023 season on Friday afternoon at Foley Field.

With the win, Jax State has now claimed wins over a Southeastern Conference opponent in back-to-back seasons and has won four-of-the-last five meetings against the Bulldogs, including back-to-back wins after winning in Jacksonville during the 2019 season. The season-opening series continues Saturday with 1 p.m. CST start. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network+.

Senior T.J. Reeves extended Jax State's lead following Maners' go-ahead extra-base hit with his second hit of the day and third RBI of the contest. Reeves, a 2023 Preseason All-ASUN selection, proved why he gained the preseason recognition with one of three home runs by the Gamecocks earlier in the contest. Maners entered the last plate appearance looking to extend a streak of 12 consecutive games he reached base dating back to the last 12 games of the 2022 season. He picked a superb time to extend that streak, driving in freshman transfer Michael Dallas (Kentucky) and senior transfer Jarrett Eaton (South Florida) on a double that split the left field gap. JSU took advantage of a hit by pitch for Eaton and a walk by Dallas to hand the Bulldogs another deficit.

Jax State jumped out to a 5-0 lead through three frames, including a four-run second inning. On a chilly and windy day in the Peach State, Dallas collected his first home run in a Gamecock uniform with a two-run blast to left field. Reeves belted the second two-run blast with two outs to give sophomore AJ Causey a lead to work with. JSU extended the lead in the third inning to 5-0 after a solo home run by Derrick Jackson, Jr. Jackson joined Reeves with multiple hits in the contest. Senior Carson Crowe was the third Gamecock to have a pair of hits on Friday.

UGA joined the early contest home run barrage with a two-run home run in the third inning and trimmed the Jax State lead to 5-3 with another home run.

The Bulldogs inched closer with a single run in the fifth and evened the contest with run in the seventh. The Gamecocks played error-less baseball and played solid defense behind the four different pitchers that they used in the contest.

Causey, making his second career start, went the first five innings and allowed four runs on six hits and had a strikeout in his Opening Day start. Junior Jake Peppers scattered three hits over three innings of work. Junior Will Baker, a junior college transfer from Coastal Alabama Community College, recorded a strikeout in his lone batter faced in the ninth before junior Reid Fagerstrom closed out the contest with a pair of strikeouts.

Freshman Bear Madliak, who made his Gamecock debut against his former team, UGA, had a hit in his debut, while senior Trent Hoogerwerf added a single in his first start in the designated hitter spot.