JACKSONVILLE – A six-run first inning for Georgia State was too much for Jacksonville State to recover from in an 8-5 midweek setback to the Panthers on Wednesday at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium.
The two teams were scheduled to play on Tuesday night moved the game to Wednesday afternoon before the second wave of rain hit Northeast Alabama. The Gamecocks dropped to 11-21 on the season and will now turn their focus back on Conference USA play with a key weekend at CUSA frontrunner, Liberty. The Panthers snapped a four-game losing skid and improved to 16-16 overall.
The Panthers started strong with the six early runs and the six pitchers out of the GSU bullpen staved off a Jax State rally. GSU, who finished with 12 hits on the day, collected half of those in the first inning and took advantage of a Gamecock fielding miscue that opened the door for the big inning for the visitors from Atlanta. The Panthers touched Gamecock starter
Colby Morse and freshman
Colin Woodham for three runs each with only a pair of earned runs after the Jax State error.
GSU added a seventh run in the second inning before Jax State matched with a run in the second inning without a hit. Junior
Drew Collins lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate the first of three walks in the inning. The Panthers pushed their final run across the dish in the fourth inning and let the pitching maintain the advantage.
Jax State, who has put together double digit runs in one inning twice over the last four games, was primed for a big inning in the sixth and seventh. Collins produced the run with another sacrifice fly after two Gamecocks were plunked and another on a free pass in the frame.
The Gamecocks trimmed the deficit to three runs in the seventh after an RBI single from CUSA Hitter of the Week,
Derrick Jackson, Jr., a hit-by-pitch of junior
Logan Walters and a GSU wild pitch. GSU's Davis Chastain entered the contest with the bases full of Gamecocks and preceded to limit the inning to three runs. The Gamecocks struggled to find the key hit in the setback and stranded 11 on the base paths.
Jackson and
Bear Madliak accounted for four of Jax State's seven hits. The No. 4 and 5 hitters had back-to-back hits in Jax State's three-run seventh inning. It was the 10th multi-hit game of the season for Jackson, while Madliak's pair of hits extended his on-base streak to 22 games.
Senior
Kyle Chastine highlighted the Gamecocks' pitching on Wednesday with a career outing. The lefty from Tuscaloosa, Alabama tossed 3.2 innings and fanned seven Panthers in the outing. Junior
Michael Dallas made his debut on the mound for the final two outs of the ninth inning and recorded a strikeout.
The series in Lynchburg, Va. will start on Friday, April 12. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. CT. The series with the Flames will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
