JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State baseball team dropped a 9-7 decision to Bradley on Saturday night on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
With the win, the Braves secured the series win as the Gamecocks (3-7) will look to salvage the final game of the weekend series on Sunday against BU (4-3). First pitch is set for 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network. Tickets will be available at the stadium ticket office.
Unlike Friday's contest when runs were at a premium, the two offenses for both clubs came out swinging with nine runs combined in the first three frames. The Braves marched out to a quick 2-0 lead on a home run in the first inning before Jax State put together its largest first at bat performance in a four-run response, highlighted by a bases-clearing three-run double by
AJ Causey. Senior
T.J. Reeves returned to form on Saturday with an RBI single ahead of Causey's extra base hit. Reeves also gave light to Jax State's offense late in the contest with his third home run of the season with a two-run blast to slice BU's four-run advantage to a pair of runs. Reeves has now reached base in all 10 games this season and collected his multi-hit game and fourth game this season with multiple RBI.
Junior
Mason Maners added a run to JSU's side of the scoreboard in the second inning with an RBI single. With his single, he extended a pair of streaks in the process as Maners has now reached base in 22 consecutive games dating back to the last 12 outings of the 2022 season and pushed his hitting streak to eight consecutive games. He tallied his fourth multi-hit game with a leadoff triple to start the seventh.
BU clawed back within a run after a pair of runs in the third and added three runs in the fifth inning to take a lead that it nursed the rest of the way. The Braves padded the advantage with two runs scored on wild pitches in the sixth inning. BU's Ryan Vogel and Peter Hansen were the two Braves with multiple hits in the win.
The Braves bullpen kept Jax State off the board until the seventh as Josh Flack tossed three innings in relief to notch the win, while Connor Langrell pitched the ninth to earn a second save of the series. The Braves' pitchers were able to get out of jams to preserve the lead as Jax State stranded nine on the bases in the loss.
Jax State sophomore
Tanner Jones suffered the loss after 4.2 innings of work.
The top four hitters in the Gamecocks' lineup combined for eight-of-the-nine hits on Saturday. Junior
Javon Hernandez and freshman
Caleb Johnson joined Maners and Reeves with two hits each.
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