JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State ran past Alabama State with a 7-3 win to complete the season sweep on Tuesday night at Rudy Abbott Foeld at Jim Case Stadium.

Coupled with a 16-4 win over the Hornets back on March 12 in Montgomery, the Gamecocks swept ASU for the first time since the 2021 season. The Hornets dropped to 16-18 overall.

It was back-and-forth between the two clubs through the first five innings. The Gamecocks took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning with a pair of RBI doubles from junior Brennen Norton and sophomore Caleb Johnson. The Hornets scored all three of their runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-out, two-run home run by Juan Cruz. Jax State reestablished its lead with a two-run fifth inning and expanded the lead with solo runs in the next three frames.

Jax State's offense was paced by two-hits each from Norton, Johnson and junior Drew Collins. The trio collected six-of-the-10 hits by the Gamecocks. Norton and sophomore Bear Madliak posted two RBIs each in the win.

Once the Gamecocks reached base it didn't take them long to advance on the base paths as they set a new Division I standard for the program and matched the all-time record for stolen bases in a single game. After Jax State swiped seven bases last Saturday at Liberty to match the Division I mark that was set twice in 2010 and 2003 against Tennessee Tech on both occasions, the Gamecocks accumulated eight stolen bases in Tuesday's win. That mark ties the school record for stolen bases in a game and the first time since 1977 that a Jax State club has had that many stolen bases. It is the third time in the program that eight stolen bases were recorded in a game as Jax State tallied eight in 1972 against North Alabama. Jax State now has 68 stolen bases in 36 games this season, which ranks among the leaders of CUSA and among the top-40 in NCAA Division I Baseball.

Sophomore Will Fincher, who reached base three times with a pair of hits and a walk, swiped three bases. He becomes the ninth different Gamecock in the Division I era to have three stolen bases in a game and the first since Gavin Golsan registered three against Samford during the 2016 season. Fincher was one of give Gamecocks to swipe a base as Johnson was the other Jax State base runner to have multiple stolen bases with a pair.

Senior Kyle Chastine worked four innings in his first start as a Gamecock before the bullpen finished the game by limiting ASU to just two hits over the final five innings. Junior Jack Hoppenjans secured his first win on the mound with 2.2 innings of work and just the two hits given up by the bullpen. Senior Sam Maynard entered with the tying runs on the bases before getting the final out in the seventh inning. Junior Michael Dallas finished off the Hornets with a strikeout to end the game. It was Dallas' second appearance on the bump this season.

Jax State will wrap up the midweek set on Wednesday with a visit to Riddle-Pace Field on the Troy campus. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. The Trojans topped Samford, 10-8, on Tuesday in Birmingham.

The Gamecocks will be idle this weekend and will travel to Birmingham on April 23 before returning to Conference USA action on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium on April 26 against New Mexico State.