TROY, Ala. – Jacksonville State will carry a lot of momentum into an idle weekend after wrapping up a midweek set with a 5-3 win over in-state rival Troy on Wednesday night at Riddle-Pace Field.
The Gamecocks started the week with a 7-3 win over Alabama State on Tuesday night in Jacksonville and gained a season split with the Trojans after falling in the first game to Troy in early April on Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium. With odd number of teams in Conference USA this season, each team in the league has an open weekend. Jax State will return to league play on April 26-28 hosting New Mexico State.
Wednesday's game was different from a combined 28 runs in the first meeting between Jax State and Troy. With an open weekend ahead for Jax State, it was able to use a pair of weekend starters on the mound to get some work done between the lengthy time between starts. The Gamecocks started
Will Baker and
Jackson Sleeper out of the bullpen. Sleeper was solid in relief with 3.2 innings of work and allowed one Trojan hit. Freshman
Colin Woodham recorded the first two outs in the ninth before junior
Austin Cornelius collected his second save of the season – both coming in the last four games. Sleeper picked up his first win as a Gamecock with his efforts.
Jax State broke a 1-1 deadlock with a two-run fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run single by freshman
Sam Silas. Silas' pair of RBI would give the Gamecocks a lead that they would nor surrender the rest of the way due to the solid work from the pitchers. The Gamecocks were opportunistic in the rest of the way offensively by adding a run on a sacrifice fly from junior
Brennen Norton in the fifth.
After Troy made it a one-run contest with a pair of runs in its half of the fifth inning, the Gamecocks extended the lead to 5-3 on junior
Logan Walters RBI double.
Walters led Jax State with three hits on the night and the key RBI late in the game. Sophomore
Bear Madliak finished with a pair of hits, while sophomore
Will Fincher added two hits towards the bottom of the lineup.
For the second consecutive night, the Jax State running game was key throughout the contest with five stolen bases versus Troy after accumulating eight on Tuesday against ASU.
The Gamecocks will face another in-state foe before facing the Aggies at home. Jax State returns to action On Tuesday, April 23 against UAB at Young Memorial Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
