JACKSONVILLE, Ala. — After a lengthy eight-game road trip, Jax State softball will return to Jana McGinnis Field for the first time since Feb. 24 when it takes on the Samford Bulldogs on Wednesday afternoon at 12 p.m. for Kids Day.

The midweek bout will be the 42nd meeting all-time between the two squads, with the Gamecocks holding the advantage with a 28-13 record over the Bulldogs, dating back to 2002.

Jax State has won five of its last six games over Samford, including the most recent matchup in Birmingham where the Gamecocks won 9-0 in five innings last season.

The Gamecocks (16-8, 2-1 CUSA) opened up conference play this past weekend with an electric start after tallying two wins for a series victory over the reigning conference champion Liberty Flames on the road.

Throughout the weekend series, Jax State outscored Liberty 16-8, including a 9-1 run rule victory in the opening game of the three-game stretch.

The veteran duo of Morgan Nowakowski and Ashley Phillips were a large part of the scoring success for the Gamecocks, as the pair combined for eight hits and 10 RBIs across the weekend.

Additionally, Jax State was able to continue its success in finding the gap, as the Gamecocks tallied six doubles against the Flames, now placing them tied for seventh in the country with 51. Nowakowski alone has 10 of those, which is tied for 16^th in the country among individual batters.

In the circle, Jax State saw multiple solid performances as well against Liberty, including freshman Makenna Moore's outing in game one where she pitched all six innings, allowing just one run off four hits and two walks to start of the series.

Through three games of conference play, Jax State ranks No. 2 in the league in ERA (2.47), No. 3 in hits allowed (19) and tied for No. 2 in runs allowed (8).

Samford comes into Wednesday's contest with a 9-17 record after losing its last four straight to New Mexico, Mississippi State and South Alabama twice at the Jaguar Classic in Mobile this past weekend.

The Bulldogs are led by junior infielder and preseason SoCon Player of the Year Olivia Shaw who leads the team in batting average (.324), hits (24), RBIs (22), doubles (8) and walks (13).

Following the midweek matchup, the Gamecocks will remain at home to take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers for a three-game series, starting on Friday evening at 6 p.m.