JACKSONVILLE – Senior Carson Crowe capped off his Jacksonville State career on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium with a home run in the eighth inning to lift the Gamecocks to a sweep of Central Arkansas with a 6-5 Mother's Day win and secure a berth in the 2023 ASUN Baseball Championship.

The Tuscaloosa, Alabama native belted his 34th career home run and moved into 11th place on the program's career home chart with one out in the eighth inning. The one-run win was Jax State's first of the season. Crowe, playing in his 201st career game, posted JSU's 11th home run of the weekend against UCA pitching.

The Gamecocks erased UCA's only lead of the weekend after an unearned run scored in the third inning. JSU orchestrated its 12th five-plus runs in a single inning this season with a pair of home runs. After two bunt singles by juniors Javon Hernandez and Mason Maners, senior T.J. Reeves collected his fourth home run of the weekend and pushed his weekend RBI total to 13 with a three-run blast in the fourth. Reeves, also playing for the final time on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium, put up stellar offensive numbers. The Birmingham, Alabama outfielder recorded four home runs, including a pair of grand slams – one on Friday and in Saturday's series-clinching win. Reeves enters the final week of the regular season with 15 home runs on the season. He posted a pair of home runs on Friday. On Sunday, Reeves tallied a two-out triple. He closed out the weekend 6-for-14 and scored five times.

Junior Derrick Jackson, Jr. followed Reeves with a blast to centerfield on the very next pitch for the fifth run of the frame. Jackson also was superb defensively with a pair of plays at first base, including the final out of the contest with a catch leaning over the fence rail along the first base line. Jackson's home run was the second of the series and ninth of the season.

UCA clawed its way back even with a pair of runs in the fifth and equalized with two more in the seventh. Junior Jake Peppers was solid through 4.2 innings before running into trouble getting through the fifth inning. Peppers finished with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits and two earned runs. Junior Sam Maynard was the first Gamecock used out of the bullpen and allowed a run on one hit over the next 1.2 innings. Senior Trey Fortner, making his 81st appearance on mound at Jax State, followed Maynard to finish the seventh and toss the eighth. Fortner stranded the go-ahead run in the eighth before Crowe gave JSU the lead in the bottom half. He posted three strikeouts and picked up his second win of the season. Junior Will Baker, who claimed game one on the mound, carded his third save of the weekend with a clean ninth.

Hernandez, Maners and Reeves carried the offense with six of the 10 hits on the day as all three finished with a pair of hits. Hernandez and Maners posted five hits on the weekend and the duo combined to reach base 17 times.

With the win, Jax State (25-25, 17-9 ASUN) will enter the final weekend of the regular season with an opportunity to win a championship. The Gamecocks will travel to Nashville, Tennessee next weekend to face Lipscomb, who is in first place in the league heading into the last weekend. Lipscomb holds a two-game lead over the Gamecocks at 20-7 entering the final three games. The series with the Bisons will start on Thursday at Joe Dugan Field on the LU campus. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

Prior to its trip to the Music City, JSU will conclude the non-conference slate with a visit to Auburn on Tuesday night. First pitch from Plainsman Park is set for 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network. The Gamecocks will be looking for their third win this season over a Southeastern Conference program after collecting wins over Georgia and Ole Miss.