JACKSONVILLE – Samford plated five early runs and limited Jacksonville State's opportunities as the Bulldogs claimed a 7-3 win on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium on Tuesday night.
With the win, Samford completed the season sweep of the two-game set after winning the first meeting in Birmingham back in February by the identical score. The Bulldogs improved to 13-7 overall, while the Gamecocks dropped to 9-11 on the season and will now shift their focus to Conference USA action beginning this weekend. Jax State's initial CUSA weekend will be a trip to Ruston, Louisiana for a league-opening series with Louisiana Tech. The series gets started on Friday at 6 p.m. All three games against the Bulldogs will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
The Bulldogs set the tone early with three runs in the first inning and added two more in the third inning off of Jax State starter
Drew McCormick, who was making his first career start in a Gamecock uniform. The Oxford, Alabama freshman went 2.1 innings an touched for the five early runs.
Jax State answered the Bulldogs' third inning runs with a run in the bottom half after a Samford error left the door open for the Gamecocks. A misplayed ball off the bat of junior
Brennen Norton allowed the first run across the plate as sophomore
Will Fincher scored in the error. Fincher started the inning with the first of his two hits on the night.
As the Jax State bullpen kept the deficit in reach for the offense to get kick-started, the Gamecocks loaded up the bases on two occasions and only came away with a run in the sixth inning. Jax State had the Bulldogs on the ropes with back-to-back singles from sophomore
Bear Madliak and senior
Derrick Jackson, Jr. followed by
Drew Collins being hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Junior
Logan Walters turned in a sacrifice fly for an RBI before Samford limited the damage to just the one run with a double play.
The Bulldogs added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh with a two-run home run. Jax State scored a run in the ninth on an RBI single from sophomore
Caleb Johnson. Johnson, who reached earlier in the contest on a walk, extended his on-base streak to all 20 games this season and the last 25 games dating back to the last five games of the 2023 season.
Madliak highlighted the Jax State lineup as he was moved into the clean up spot in the order for the first time this season. The Carrollton, Georgia catcher finished with three hits on the night. He extended his hitting streak to 11 games and his sixth multi-hit contest of 2024.
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