JACKSONVILLE — Jax State rallied for the fourth-straight game to take down Middle Tennesse, 6-5, to open the series against the Blue Raiders on Thursday night at Jim Case Stadium.
Jax State improves to 10-0 in Conference USA play and 25-6 overall, while MTSU falls to 16-14 and an even 5-5 in CUSA play.
The Gamecocks have now overcome a deficit in four consecutive games, winning three of those, with all three coming against CUSA competition (two at LA Tech and tonight).
Jackson Sleeper earned his fourth win of the season with three scoreless innings of work, striking out four of the 10 batters he faced. John Michael Pickens was tagged with the loss as the pitcher who gave up the final four runs to the Gamecocks, including the go-ahead two run homer in the seventh.
Middle Tennessee scored the first run of the game in the top of the second inning with an RBI-single from Layne Akers to take an early lead. In the top of the fourth, the Blue Raiders scored two runs with an RBI-double from Dean O'Neill, followed by a second RBI-single by Akers. After four frames, MTSU led 3-0.
Jax State closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth inning, when an RBI-single by Jaxon Pate loaded the bases, but the throw on the play was wide, allowing Pate to reach second, Orlando Peña to reach third, and Luke Williams to score. An RBI-groundout from Grayson Ashe would score Peña to make it a 3-2 game.
Middle Tennessee would build the lead back up to three runs with two in the top of the sixth, both coming from RBI-doubles. Brett Vondoglen scored Akers, followed by Owen Nowak scoring Vondohlen. Both runs were unearned due to an error to open the inning.
The Gamecocks, again, closed the gap to make it a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth, with back-to-back RBI-groundouts. Pate grounded out to short to allow Greg LaChance to score, then Caleb Johnson followed with a groundout to third to plate Williams, cutting the lead to 5-4.
The difference of the game came off the bat of Sam Richardson, sending a two-run shot to left field to take a 6-5 lead, which would cement itself as the final. Richardson has homered in back-to-back games and holds the fastest traveling home run of the season thus far, with the ball flying at 109 miles per hour off the bat.
Sleeper remained in the game to finish it out, inducing a 7-3 double play in the top of the eighth to get out of the inning, then striking out two of the final three batters in the top of the ninth to capture win No. 25 for Jax State.
The Gamecocks will continue the series with MTSU on Friday evening, with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Eli Pillsbury will take the mound for Jax State, while Drew Horn is scheduled to pitch for Middle Tennessee.
