LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Jacksonville State baseball team dropped a Conference USA road series with a 12-6 setback to Liberty on Sunday afternoon at the Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Coupled with Friday's 7-2 win over Jax State the Flames claimed the series after the Gamecocks rallied for a 6-5 win on Saturday. The two clubs erased early deficits as LU jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning before Jax State put together a rally to take a 3-2 lead in the third inning.
LU would answer with two runs in its half of the inning and go on to expand the lead with at least a run in the next four innings, including a three-run fifth that broke the game open. After retaking the lead, the LU bullpen limited Jax State's offense with two hits allowed by the Flames' relievers. The LU bullpen limited Jax State to three hits over the final five innings.
The Jax State offense was highlighted by senior
Derrick Jackson, Jr.'s day at the plate. The first baseman from Huntsville, Alabama and the reigning CUSA Hitter of the Week, recorded a pair of home runs in the game for the first time in his Gamecock career. Jackson delivered the first dinger of the day to cap off Jax State's three-run third inning. He started the fifth inning with blast over the left field wall.
The Gamecocks other run in the fifth inning came on an RBI from
Logan Walters, who beat out an infield single. Jax State pushed the final run of the game in the ninth with an RBI single from freshman
Gabe Young. Young had the eventual game-winning RBI in Saturday's win.
Norton finished the weekend with at least a hit in all three games with an RBI single in the third inning. Sophomore
Caleb Johnson has now reached base in 34 of the 35 games this season with a base hit and a pair of walks.
Jax State will have a busy midweek with a home contest with Alabama State on Tuesday night before returning the trip to Troy on Wednesday. First pitch with the Hornets is set for 6 p.m. Tickets for the ASU game on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium are available at JaxStateSports.com. All Jax State students and fans 18 years old and younger are admitted free. Both midweek outings will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
The Gamecocks will be idle from competition next weekend before starting the second half of the CUSA slate on April 26-28 hosting New Mexico State.
