JACKSONVILLE — Jax State rallied in a Friday night Conference USA game to knock off FIU, 4-2, to stay on top of the league standings.

The Gamecocks improved to 31-8 on the season and 14-2 in league play, staying a game ahead of Missouri State, while FIU fell to 13-24 and 5-11 in CUSA play.

Eli Pillsbury pitched eight innings with zero earned runs, only giving up two runs on four hits. Eight innings is the longest outing of his Division I career. Skyler Hutto earned his CUSA-leading ninth save, and now ties Devin Bell (Oregon) and Andrew Damiani (Niagara) at third in Division I.

Jaxon Pate lead the Gamecocks with a three-for-three night, scoring a run of his own and drawing a walk, improving his season batting average to .371.

FIU jumped out to a fast 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, scoring a run on a fielding error, then a sacrifice bunt to take the early 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Gamecocks cut the lead in half when a passed ball allowed Cooper Blauser to score the Gamecocks first run of the night

The score would remain locked at 2-1 until the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Gamecocks put together a three-run inning, starting with Brady Thomas tying the game thanks to a balk by the FIU pitcher. 

Caleb Johnson's RBI-groundout broke the tie, making the score 3-2 with Luke Williams scoring the go-ahead run. Greg LaChance followed with an RBI-groundout of his own to score Jaxon Pate and stretch the lead to 4-2.

Hutto entered in the top of the ninth inning to fan the first two batters before the next two reached on a fielding error and a walk. The final batter of the game would fly out to left field to cement the victory for Jax State.

Jax State looks to win its fifth CUSA series on Saturday afternoon, with Beau Bryans taking the mound for the Gamecocks at 2 p.m.