JACKSONVILLE – Junior Javon Hernandez went 5-for-5 and sophomore Brennen Norton delivered four RBI to lead Jacksonville State to a 13-8 win over Jacksonville on Saturday night at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

The win forces a rubber match between the Gamecocks and Dolphins on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Tickets are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com and all Jax State students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free. The series-deciding contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.

After JU solved Hernandez on Friday night, they could not find a way to get him out on Saturday with four singles and a double on the night to bump his batting average to an ASUN-best .426 on the season. The five hits also increased his average in ASUN games-only to .593. The Danbury, Connecticut second baseman put the Gamecocks on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the first inning and aided in Jax State's six-run second inning with a two-out RBI to centerfield. The last time a Gamecock had five hits in a contest was Cole Frederick, who had five in JSU's win over Kennesaw State in March of 2020 – the final game of that shortened season due to COVID-19.

Hernandez' single sparked the Gamecocks big inning to break open the game. A two-out walk by Caleb Johnson by JU starter Dakota Stone kept the inning alive. Junior Mason Maners tripled to the gap in left and after a walk by senior T.J. Reeves, Norton belted his first home run of the season over the left field fence. The Cullman, Alabama third baseman added an RBI double after JU had trimmed the JSU lead to 10-8 in the top half of the inning. He would score on a wild pitch and Johnson added an RBI single for the third run of the inning.

Freshman catcher Bear Madliak had JSU's second home run of the night with a two-run blast in the third inning. Maners and Reeves joined Hernandez and Reeves with multiple hits against the Dolphin arms. The Gamecocks pounded out 17 hits on the night for their 10th double digit hit performance in 14 ASUN games. The 13 runs was the eight league game with double figure run totals.

Sophomore Tanner Jones recorded his fourth win of the season and third against a league foe after battling for five complete innings. The Dolphins plated five against him – four earned on seven hits in the outing. Jones finished with four strikeouts and pitched his way out of jams in a couple of innings. Sophomore Austin Cornelius picked up his second save in as many weekends with 3.1 innings of work and did not allow a JU hit in the outing. Cornelius posted a pair of strikeouts in the 10 batters he faced.