HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Jax State baseball controlled Saturday's Conference USA match up against Sam Houston from start to finish, taking the series with an 18-7 run-rule victory at Don Sanders Stadium.
The Gamecocks plated a season-high 18 runs in the victory, and tallied 20 hits, tying the season-high in that category.
Jax State moves to 16-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while Sam Houston falls to 8-10, 0-2 in CUSA play.
Beau Bryans earned the victory after four innings of work, striking out five. He earned the victory in a shorted effort since the game only went seven innings. Collin Aloisio was tagged with the first loss of his college career after giving up the first eight runs in one inning of work.
Jax State plated four in the top of the first inning with two-RBI doubles from Grayson Ashe and Ace Williamson. The Gamecocks then added six in the top of the second inning, first from an RBI-single by Cooper Blauser, then Brady Thomas' first grand slam of his Division I career, 380 feet to right field. The inning closed with a 404-foot solo homer by Ace Williamson, giving Jax State a 10-0 lead after two.
Ashe knocked a bases-clearing two-out double in the top of the third inning to push the lead to 13-0. The lead expanded again in the top of the fourth with RBI-singles by Jaxon Pate and Trey King, making it 15-0.
The Bearkats answered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, with a bases-loaded walk, a bases-clearing double of their own. A solo homer to left field in the bottom of the fifth cut the lead to 15-5.
A Blauser sac fly in the top of the sixth made it 16-5, and Matthew Cash's first home run of the season in the top of the seventh put the score up to 18-5 after six and a half frames, needing only three outs to run-rule the Bearkats.
Sam Houston fought in the bottom of the the seventh to close the gap, scoring two runs, first from an RBI-triple, then scoring on a wild pitch, but Josh Sibley shut down the final two batters to cement the victory for the Gamecocks.
The series comes to a close on Sunday afternoon at Don Sanders Stadium. Jax State will look to sweep the first conference series of the year at 12 p.m.
