JACKSONVILLE — The Jax State baseball team welcomes the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers to Jim Case Stadium for its Conference USA home opener. The three-game set is scheduled to begin Friday at 6 p.m.
This series pits two of the three undefeated in CUSA play teams against each other. The third undefeated is Louisiana Tech, who Jax State will travel to next week. This series also stands as the rematch of last year's CUSA tournament championship.
The Gamecocks are 18-4 overall, going 1-1 thus far on the week. On Tuesday, Jax State fell to Samford in a one-run game, the difference being a late Bulldog homer. The Gamecocks bounced back on Wednesday with a 12-7 victory over the Alabama A&M Bulldogs at Toyota Field. Jax State launched three home runs the top of the ninth en-route to a seven-run inning, as homers from Orlando Pena,
Sam Richardson, and
Caleb Johnson led the way for the Gamecocks.
The Hilltoppers are 13-8 thus far on the season, taking down Belmont, 7-2, in neutral-site midweek action. WKU opened up CUSA play with a home sweep of the Florida International Panthers. WKU is led offensively by Lane Arroyos, who has a team-high 30 hits, 10 doubles, five homers, and 27 RBI so far this season.
Head Coach Steve Bieser needs only one more victory to achieve 400 victories in his coaching career. After racking up 138 wins at SEMO, Bieser earned 188 victories at Mizzou prior to coming to Jax State, arriving in Jacksonville with 326 total wins. As of March 19, he has earned 73 wins with the Gamecocks for a total of 399 wins.
Jax State is tied at fourth in Division I in double plays turned with 23. The team is tied wih New Orleans and UAB with 23 double plays turned. The teams ahead of the Gamecocks are Butler (first, 27), Tarleton State (second, 25), and Vanderbilt (third, 24).
Jax State is beginning to appear in a few rankings throughout the collegiate baseball media space. Most notably, the Gamecocks are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll, earning five points and tying for the unofficial 36th spot with South Florida. The Gamecocks are also receiving votes in the National College Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) poll and are ranked 17th in the 64Analytics poll. In PEARating's NET ratings, Jax State is fifth among mid-majors, and in 11.7's Mid-Major Power Rankings, Jax State has moved up to 14th.
Jax State trots out its familiar all-southpaw rotation this season, returning in the same order as last weekend.
Eli Pillsbury will start Friday night, with
Beau Bryans taking the mound on Saturday and
Steven Cash opening things up on Sunday. For WKU, righthander Gavin Perry will start Friday night, with southpaw Aaron Robertson starting on Saturday and lefty Zack Serup starting on Sunday. Robertson is the second southpaw starter to start against Jax State this season and the first lefthanded starter the Gamecocks will face since game three the Memphis series.
