HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Jacksonville State dropped a Friday twinbill to Sam Houston in the final Conference USA weekend series of the season.
SHSU claimed a pair of run-rule contests to claim the series, 12-2, in the opener and an 11-1 decision in the second game of the doubleheader.
The Gamecocks needed to sweep the Bearkats to put themselves in position for the last spot in the 2024 CUSA Baseball Championship, plus Middle Tennessee being swept by Dallas Baptist. DBU posted a pair of wins over MTSU on Friday, while the Gamecocks' weekend was delayed due to weather in the Huntsville area on Thursday.
It was a tough day offensively for Jax State with six hots combined on Friday and three runs. The Bearkats used big innings in both wins as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning of game one and added five more runs before a two-run double by sophomore
Bear Madliak put Jax State on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. SHSU would finish the game in the eighth inning with a pair of unearned runs in the eighth inning. Junior
Drew Collins and sophomore
Will Fincher joined Madliak with hits in the contest.
SHSU pounded out 14 hits in the first game and continued to swing a big stick in the second game throughout the lineup. The Bearkats took a quick lead in the first inning and added runs in the third and fourth innings before putting the game away with a seven-run sixth frame. SHSU's Michael Watson kept the Gamecocks off the bases in 5.0 innings of work, including nine strikeouts. The SHSU offense added 12 more hits in the second contest.
The lone Gamecock to solve him was freshman
Hudson Walburn, who turned in his fifth home run of the season in the fourth inning.
Jax State will wrap up the 2024 season on Saturday with the final game of the series. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. The game will be carried on the Gamecock Sports Network.
