Thursday, March 28
JACKSONVILLE
6:00 PM
Jax State
vs
Western Kentucky
Baseball Hosts WKU For Conference USA Home Opener
3/27/2024 6:14:00 PM | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE – After playing six-out-of-the-last seven games away from the turf of Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium, Jacksonville State can put away the travel bags for a few weeks with an eight-game homestand starting on Thursday night against Western Kentucky.
Thursday's contest will the first-ever Conference USA home contest for Jax State after opening the league slate last weekend against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana. The series gets started at 6 p.m. on Thursday, followed by another night outing at 6 p.m. on Friay. The Easter weekend series will wrap up on Saturday at 1 p.m. Tickets for the series are available online at JaxStateSports.com. Jax State students and all fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free.
It will be 'Thirsty Thursday' at The Jim for the opening contest between the Gamecocks and Hilltoppers. Busch Light and Natural Light in the can will be sold for $3 dollars on the concourse. The Jax State bowling team, who just claimed the 2024 CUSA Bowling Championship will be honored in pre-game festivities.
The Gamecocks (9-15, 0-3 CUSA) will be looking to shake off a six-game losing skid that dates back to the final game of the Southern Illinois series on March 17. Jax State dropped the series with SIU and fell to Samford in a Spring Break midweek contest before trekking to LA Tech to open the CUSA slate. The Hilltoppers (16-10, 1-2 CUSA) enter the weekend looking for a CUSA series win as well after dropping a home series to FIU last weekend in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The weekend series with WKU and Jax State will be the third series all-time between the two programs. Jax State and WKU faced each other in a home-and-home non-conference series during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and holds a 5-1 lead in the series. The Gamecocks swept the Hilltoppers in 2016 in a series on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium in three close contest. Jax State won the opener 5-4 before outlasting WKU in 10 innings, 8-7. The Gamecocks completed the sweep with a 9-7 win. Jax State claimed the series in Bowling Green, Ky. during the 2017 campaign. After the two clubs split the first two games of the weekend, Jax State won the rubber game, 9-5.
The home run ball has keyed the Jax State offense this season with 33 home runs in 24 games so far this season and ranks in the top third of the league heading into the weekend. Dallas Baptist and FIU rank 1-2 in home run totals with 48 and 34 respectively. Junior Brennen Norton has tallied a league-best 10 home runs this season. The Cullman, Alabama third baseman hit a pair of home runs in the CUSA opener  against the Bulldogs. Norton collected his first three-hit game of the season with an RBI double and two base hits against Auburn.
Sophomore Caleb Johnson ranks second on the club with seven home runs in 24 games this season. The shortstop from Phenix City, Alabama has reached base in all 24 games this season and has a streak of 29 consecutive games reaching base that goes back to the last five games of the 2023 season. Against Auburn on Tuesday, Johnson belted a two-run home run in the first inning and added a double in the setback during the midweek.Â
The WKU series will be streamed on ESPN+ with Eli Gold and Jim Case calling the action. All three games will also be carried on the Gamecock Sports Network with Mike Parris behind the microphone.
Â
Thursday's contest will the first-ever Conference USA home contest for Jax State after opening the league slate last weekend against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana. The series gets started at 6 p.m. on Thursday, followed by another night outing at 6 p.m. on Friay. The Easter weekend series will wrap up on Saturday at 1 p.m. Tickets for the series are available online at JaxStateSports.com. Jax State students and all fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free.
It will be 'Thirsty Thursday' at The Jim for the opening contest between the Gamecocks and Hilltoppers. Busch Light and Natural Light in the can will be sold for $3 dollars on the concourse. The Jax State bowling team, who just claimed the 2024 CUSA Bowling Championship will be honored in pre-game festivities.
The Gamecocks (9-15, 0-3 CUSA) will be looking to shake off a six-game losing skid that dates back to the final game of the Southern Illinois series on March 17. Jax State dropped the series with SIU and fell to Samford in a Spring Break midweek contest before trekking to LA Tech to open the CUSA slate. The Hilltoppers (16-10, 1-2 CUSA) enter the weekend looking for a CUSA series win as well after dropping a home series to FIU last weekend in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The weekend series with WKU and Jax State will be the third series all-time between the two programs. Jax State and WKU faced each other in a home-and-home non-conference series during the 2016 and 2017 seasons and holds a 5-1 lead in the series. The Gamecocks swept the Hilltoppers in 2016 in a series on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium in three close contest. Jax State won the opener 5-4 before outlasting WKU in 10 innings, 8-7. The Gamecocks completed the sweep with a 9-7 win. Jax State claimed the series in Bowling Green, Ky. during the 2017 campaign. After the two clubs split the first two games of the weekend, Jax State won the rubber game, 9-5.
The home run ball has keyed the Jax State offense this season with 33 home runs in 24 games so far this season and ranks in the top third of the league heading into the weekend. Dallas Baptist and FIU rank 1-2 in home run totals with 48 and 34 respectively. Junior Brennen Norton has tallied a league-best 10 home runs this season. The Cullman, Alabama third baseman hit a pair of home runs in the CUSA opener  against the Bulldogs. Norton collected his first three-hit game of the season with an RBI double and two base hits against Auburn.
Sophomore Caleb Johnson ranks second on the club with seven home runs in 24 games this season. The shortstop from Phenix City, Alabama has reached base in all 24 games this season and has a streak of 29 consecutive games reaching base that goes back to the last five games of the 2023 season. Against Auburn on Tuesday, Johnson belted a two-run home run in the first inning and added a double in the setback during the midweek.Â
The WKU series will be streamed on ESPN+ with Eli Gold and Jim Case calling the action. All three games will also be carried on the Gamecock Sports Network with Mike Parris behind the microphone.
Â
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballWednesday, May 13
Sunday, May 10
Sunday, April 26
Saturday, April 25
