LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty rallied from a six-run deficit to post an 18-8 win over Jacksonville State and claims the ASUN weekend series on Sunday at the Liberty Baseball Stadium.
The Gamecocks led 8-2 heading to the sixth inning before the Flames sent 17 hitters to the plate and plated 11 runs after Jax State surrendered seven walks and a pair of hit by pitches. The highlight of the inning was a two-out grand slam that gave LU the lead and momentum the rest of the way. The grand slam was just one of four hits for the Flames. LU was issued 12 walks in the final three innings.
The loss spoiled a solid offense start to the day after only gathering six hits on Saturday. The Gamecocks took the early lead with a two-run double by junior
Mason Maners. After LU's first of three home runs in the third, JSU responded with four runs in its next plate appearance. Junior Derrick Jackson greeted the new LU pitcher with his seventh home run of the season. His dinger kick-started the frame as freshman
Caleb Johnson had one of his RBI with a walk, followed by two more runs in the inning.
Before LU's big inning, Jax State extended the lead to 8-2 with Johnson's sacrifice fly, plating
Carson Crowe. Freshman
Bear Madliak doubled to left field to push
Jarrett Eaton across the dish.
Junior
Jake Peppers was cruising through five innings before getting into trouble with a pair of the seven walks in the inning to start the frame. Jax State used senior
Colin Casey, sophomore
Austin Cornelius and senior
Trey Fortner to finish the sixth inning.
Maners was the lone Gamecock with multiple hits in the contest and finished the five-game week with 10 hits.
The Gamecocks will be idle during the midweek and will close out the 2023 home schedule with an ASUN series with Central Arkansas. The series will get underway on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium on Friday at 6 p.m. Jax State will honor its senior class prior to Saturday's 6 p.m. contest. The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Tickets for the final home series of the season are available online at JSUGamecockSports.com. All Jax State students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
