JACKSONVILLE - Jacksonville State begins a five-game week with a pair of in-state midweek match ups with a first-ever visit to Liberty on the horizon this weekend. The Gamecocks will be looking to avenge losses to Troy and Samford to wrap up the two-game season sets between the rivals.

The Gamecocks will travel to Pike County on Tuesday to face the Trojans before returning to Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium for their final hone non-conference outing of the 2023 season on Wednesday at 4 p.m. First pitch from Riddle-Pace Field is set for 6 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network. Tickets for Wednesday's game are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. All Jax State students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free.

Jax State (21-21, 14-7 ASUN) is coming off its third ASUN weekend series sweep after claiming all three games against North Alabama last weekend. The Trojans begin the week 30-15 after dropping a Sun Belt weekend series to South Alabama. Samford enters Wednesday's outing with an overall mark of 24-20 after winning a series at VMI.

With the exception of the shortened season in 2020, Jax State and Troy have met every season dating back to the 1970 season. Tuesday's duel will be the 137th meeting between the two longtime rivals with the Trojans leading the series 79-59. Last season, the Troy claimed both match ups. Troy posted a 14-6 win in its last visit to Jacksonville and turned in a 12-5 win in Troy. The Gamecocks will be looking to split the season set with Troy after the Trojans claimed an 11-1 decision two weeks ago on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.

Samford and Jax State will renew its rivalry on Wednesday on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium. The Gamecocks lead the series 50-28. Jax State will be looking to split the season set after dropping a one-run (7-6) decision to the Bulldogs in the first midweek action of the 2023 season on February 19 at Joe Lee Griffin Field.

As a team, Jax State is hitting .306 on the season with five individuals hitting .300 or better in the lineup. Senior T.J. Reeves leads the team in RBI with 45, while junior Mason Maners has 36 RBI on 50 hits. He leads the club in home runs with nine on the season. Reeves has reached base in all 42 games this season and heads into the week hitting .341 on the season.

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 72 and ranks 13th in the nation in total hits. He is six hits back of the NCAA Division I leader Jonah Cox of Oral Roberts (78). Hernandez leads the conference in batting average with a .424 mark and hitting .538 in league play.

Since returning from a hand injury during the opening week of the season at Georgia, junior first baseman Derrick Jackson, Jr. has been stellar in his return 20 games ago (March 25 - at Bellarmine-GM2). Jackson is hitting .377 (29-77) with 12 doubles and five home runs. The Huntsville, Alabama native has delivered 21 RBI and posted a slugging percentage of .727. Jackson has also keyed the Gamecocks' ASUN-best fielding mark with a fielding clip of .933 at first base. He has produced eight multi-hit games over the span of the last 20 outings and has tallied six multi-RBI games. In 17 ASUN games, Jackson boasts a .388 average.

Junior Reid Fagerstrom will make his first start of the season against the Trojans, while he will be opposed by Troy's Ben Thompson.