JACKSONVILLE - Jacksonville State looks to continue its unblemished start in the ASUN when it hosts the reigning conference champion, Kennesaw State in a key three-game series on the turf of Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
The series between the two rivals that are separated by 82 miles, will get started on Friday night at 6 p.m. The series continues through the weekend with another evening showdown on Saturday at 6 p.m. and will wrap up on Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets for the series are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. Admission for all Jax State students and fans 18 years old and younger is free.
The Gamecocks (13-12) have posted back-to-back sweeps in the first two league weekends of the season against Queens and Bellarmine. Jax State has won nine-of-its-last-11 games after a pair of hiccups in midweek contests over the last three weeks. Dating back to the last two weekends of conference play, the Gamecocks have won 11 consecutive ASUN games. The Owls enter the weekend at 11-12 overall and 3-3 in ASUN contests. KSU started conference play by dropping all three games at Stetson in the first week and bouncing back to sweep Eastern Kentucky last weekend at home.
he Gamecocks and Owls renew a regional rivalry this weekend and for the first time as conference foes. The two clubs have met 37 previous times with KSU holding a 20-17 lead in the series that dates back to the 1991 season. Jax State and KSU met every single season from 2006 to 2016. After not playing each other in 2017 and 2019, the two clubs have faced off against each other in a home-and-home set in 2020 and 2021. Jax State and KSU did not meet last season as ASUN rivals with the league set up for East and West Division play.
Entering the final day of the month of March, the Gamecocks have put together a 10-7 mark during the month. Entering the weekend, the JSU offense ranks 24th in NCAA Division I Baseball in total hits with 261 total hits and in the top-50 in batting average with a .302 clip.
Junior
Mason Maners has put together a string of 37 straight games of reaching base, which dates back to the last 12 games of the 2023 season. In the 25 games this season, he has reached base 44 total times. Over the last 37 games, Maners has hit in 31-of-the-37 games and has two or more hits in 15 of the 37 games dating back to the Eastern Kentucky series last season. Maners' streak ranks second in the country behind Heath Hood of Louisiana, who has reached base 42 consecutive games. Illinois' Brandon Comia had a streak of 62 games reaching base snapped on Tuesday against Missouri.
Over the last 11 games, the top-two in Jax State's lineup has set the table for Reeves and Maners. Junior
Javon Hernandez is hitting .568 over the last 11 games and has posted 12 RBI. He also has an on-base percentage of .648 over that span of games. Freshman
Bear Madliak, who has moved to the leadoff spot, has the best average on the squad at .395 entering the midweek action. Madliak and Hernandez have combined for 47 hits and 31 runs over the last 11 games.
It all starts with pitching for the Gamecocks. Coupled with a sizzling offense, the starting pitching has been stellar with an earned run average of 2.45 over the last 11 games (55.0 IP) and have allowed 15 runs-all earned. The starters have accumulated 52 strikeouts and just 12 walks over that time frame.
Jax State will keep its weekend rotation intact with sophomore
AJ Causey taking the mound in the opening game, followed by sophomore
Tanner Jones and freshman
Eli Zielinski on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Over the first two weekends in the ASUN, the trio has compiled a 2.61 ERA in 38.0 innings of work. The weekend starters have tallied 39 strikeouts and allowed 11 earned runs
All three games with the Owls will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
