JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State has added a home baseball game against UAB on Wednesday at 6 p.m., and it will be the debut of the Gamecocks' new television broadcast team of Eli Gold and recently retired head coach Jim Case.
Less than a week after the Gamecocks announced that Gold would begin providing play-by-play on most of their remaining home broadcasts on ESPN+, the hall of fame broadcaster has added an analyst that is as familiar with Jax State Baseball as anyone.
Case, who retired after 22 seasons as the Gamecocks' head coach in 2023, gladly accepted Gold's invitation to share the booth with him for the remainder of the 2024 season. The pair originally planned to debut on April 19 against Samford, but the addition of Wednesday's game created an opportunity for them to begin calling games together almost a week ahead of schedule.
Since Wednesday's game with UAB is an addition to the original schedule, season ticket holders can simply check in at the ticket window as they enter the stadium, and their regularly assigned seats will be available for the game. Additional tickets are available for purchase online at JaxStateSports.com/Tickets or can be purchased at the stadium on game day.
Case will have a different vantage point of the action at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium after leading the Gamecocks to 673 wins, three regular season conference championships and five conference tournament titles. His teams won almost 60 percent of their games at home, and the stadium in which they now play was named in his honor prior to the 2019 season.
Under Case, the Gamecocks made five NCAA Regional appearances and advanced to the championship game of the 2019 Oxford Regional after eliminating Clemson and Illinois from the tournament.
Case was voted the OVC Coach of the Year three times, receiving the honor in 2005, 2008 and 2019. In his time at Jax State, he coached 85 all-conference players and 18 All-Americans. Clay Whittemore was named the OVC Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and Garrett Farmer earned OVC Pitcher of the Year accolades in 2019. Three players grabbed OVC Freshman of the Year honors - Donovan Hand in 2005, Todd Cunningham in 2008, Kyle Bluestein in 2009.
His teams won more than 30 games 16 times and won more than 20 league games four times. In 2008, the Gamecocks set an OVC record with 23 conference wins on their way to the conference title. In 16 OVC Tournament appearances, Case's Gamecocks posted a 38-24 (.680) record.
Counting his career at Jax State, Case enjoyed a fruitful 41-year career as a coach at the Division I level. He was part of part of 12 NCAA Regional squads, two Super Regional teams and two College World Series teams. Over 30 of his former players have been selected in the MLB Draft and eight have advanced to play in the major leagues, including Hand and Cunningham from Jax State.
All of Jax State's remaining home games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans wishing to watch that aren't already subscribed can do so at plus.espn.com or on the ESPN app on their device.
