Tuesday, April 25
JACKSONVILLE
6:00 PM
Jacksonville State University
vs
UAB
Rivalry Week Begins Tuesday Against UAB
4/24/2023 4:50:00 PM | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE – It's rivalry week on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium as Jacksonville State will face a pair of in-state foes beginning with a Tuesday match up with UAB before hosting North Alabama in an ASUN weekend series.
First pitch between the Gamecocks and Blazers is set for 6 p.m. Tickets for all four games are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. Admission is free for Jax State students and fans 18 years old and younger. All four games will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
The Gamecocks and Blazers will be meeting for the 49th time on Tuesday with Jax State holding a 30-18 lead in the series that dates back to 1987. Jax State enters Tuesday's contest on the home turf with eight wins over the last 10 meetings between the two on-state programs. UAB claimed the only contest played between the two teams last season, 7-1, in Jacksonville.
It was just under a month ago that Jax State dropped a 6-3 decision to UAB at Young Memorial Field in Birmingham. The Gamecocks, who spent the weekend in southwest Florida for an ASUN series with Florida Gulf Coast, enter the midweek outing at 18-20 overall and 11-7 in league games. JSU starts the weekend among the top-five teams in the ASUN with four weekends left in the regular season. UAB spent the weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina against Charlotte, falling in all three games.
Junior Javon Hernandez remains one of the hottest hitters in the ASUN and on the national level. Entering the week, he leads the ASUN in total hits with 67 and ranks sixth in the nation in total hits and just six hits back of the NCAA Division I leader Jonah Cox of Oral Roberts (73). Hernandez leads the conference in batting average with a .429 mark and ranks 11th in NCAA Division I baseball in that category.
As a team, Jax State is hitting .301 on the season with five individuals hitting .300 or better in the lineup. Senior T.J. Reeves leads the team in RBI with 40, while junior Mason Maners has 34 RBI on 45 hits. He leads the club in home runs with eight on the season. Reeves has reached base in all 38 games this season and heads into the week hitting .324 on the season.
Freshman Caleb Johnson turned in one of his best weekends of the season with five hits against FGCU, including a pair of home runs in Saturday's 14-3 win over the Eagles and added a double on the weekend. With the weather warming up, so has senior Carson Crowe. In the FGCU series, Crowe delivered five hits and posted seven RBI. His seven RBI on Saturday was half of JSU's runs scored after he blasted a grand slam and a two-run home run on the day.
The renewal of the rivalry with UNA will get started on Friday evening at 6 p.m. followed by a Saturday night contest at 6 p.m. Sunday's series finale is set for 1 p.m. For the second consecutive year, Jax State will have visit from Blooper, the mascot of the Atlanta Braves and nationally renowned organist, Matthew Kaminski. Kaminski is well-known for his performances at Truiest Park for the Braves.
First pitch between the Gamecocks and Blazers is set for 6 p.m. Tickets for all four games are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. Admission is free for Jax State students and fans 18 years old and younger. All four games will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
The Gamecocks and Blazers will be meeting for the 49th time on Tuesday with Jax State holding a 30-18 lead in the series that dates back to 1987. Jax State enters Tuesday's contest on the home turf with eight wins over the last 10 meetings between the two on-state programs. UAB claimed the only contest played between the two teams last season, 7-1, in Jacksonville.
It was just under a month ago that Jax State dropped a 6-3 decision to UAB at Young Memorial Field in Birmingham. The Gamecocks, who spent the weekend in southwest Florida for an ASUN series with Florida Gulf Coast, enter the midweek outing at 18-20 overall and 11-7 in league games. JSU starts the weekend among the top-five teams in the ASUN with four weekends left in the regular season. UAB spent the weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina against Charlotte, falling in all three games.
Junior Javon Hernandez remains one of the hottest hitters in the ASUN and on the national level. Entering the week, he leads the ASUN in total hits with 67 and ranks sixth in the nation in total hits and just six hits back of the NCAA Division I leader Jonah Cox of Oral Roberts (73). Hernandez leads the conference in batting average with a .429 mark and ranks 11th in NCAA Division I baseball in that category.
As a team, Jax State is hitting .301 on the season with five individuals hitting .300 or better in the lineup. Senior T.J. Reeves leads the team in RBI with 40, while junior Mason Maners has 34 RBI on 45 hits. He leads the club in home runs with eight on the season. Reeves has reached base in all 38 games this season and heads into the week hitting .324 on the season.
Freshman Caleb Johnson turned in one of his best weekends of the season with five hits against FGCU, including a pair of home runs in Saturday's 14-3 win over the Eagles and added a double on the weekend. With the weather warming up, so has senior Carson Crowe. In the FGCU series, Crowe delivered five hits and posted seven RBI. His seven RBI on Saturday was half of JSU's runs scored after he blasted a grand slam and a two-run home run on the day.
The renewal of the rivalry with UNA will get started on Friday evening at 6 p.m. followed by a Saturday night contest at 6 p.m. Sunday's series finale is set for 1 p.m. For the second consecutive year, Jax State will have visit from Blooper, the mascot of the Atlanta Braves and nationally renowned organist, Matthew Kaminski. Kaminski is well-known for his performances at Truiest Park for the Braves.
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