LYNCHBURG, Va. – Jacksonville State's incredible run through the 2025 Conference USA Baseball Championship came to a tough ending, falling to Western Kentucky, 6-5, in 11 innings.
WKU's Joe Siervo blooped the game0winning hit just in front of a diving
Ace Williamson to plate the winning run to claim the title and the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Baseball Championship Regional field.
Jax State, who was picked last in the preseason predictions by a vote of the coaches within CUSA, surpassed those prognostications with a fourth-place finish in one of the top-five leagues in terms of RPI. The Gamecocks' run on the Liberty campus began on Wednesday with a win over Louisiana Tech. After a tough setback to top-seeded Dallas Baptist on Thursday, the Gamecocks rallied off three straight wins over LA Tech and back-to-back wins over the Patriots of DBU on Saturday to earn a trip to Sunday's battle with WKU.
The Gamecocks and Tops traded runs in the first inning before freshman
Matthew Cash delivered the second home run by Jax State during the week with a solo shot in the second inning. Cash was involved with Jax State's two-run fourth with the first of two sacrifice flies on the day. The Gamecocks extended the lead with a run on a wild pitch.
WKU would claw its way back from a 4-1 deficit with the home run ball off of junior
Steven Cash, who made his second start of the tournament. The Tops cut the lead in half with a solo shot in the sixth and took the lead on Siervo's two-run dinger in the seventh.
Jax State answered with Cash's third RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
WKU threatened to win the contest in the next three frames, but solid defense from the Gamecocks kept the game knotted up.
Junior
Grayson Ashe, who was one of five Gamecocks to earn a spot on the CUSA All-Tournament Team, delivered three hits and drove in a run. Junior
Caleb Johnson added a pair of hits, while Cash finished with multiple hits.
As a team, the Gamecocks hit .299, including 17 extra bases. Redshirt sophomore
Cooper Blauser led the club with 10 hits in the six games in Lynchburg. Ashe collected eight hits and six RBI. Collins, who wrapped up his Jax State career on Sunday, went out on a high note with nine hits and six RBI.
Ashe, Blauser, Collins,
Karson Bonaparte and
Jackson Sleeper earned all-tourney status.
The 2025 club will be remembered as the one that made a complete turnaround from one season to another. After a disappointing 18-win season in 2024, the 2025 edition doubled that win total with 37 wins. It ranks as the third-best turnaround in NCAA Division I baseball this season.
