TROY, Ala. — Jax State scored five runs in the top of the fourth to overcome a 4-0 deficit, rallying to take down Troy on Tuesday night at Riddle-Pace Field.
The Gamecocks improve to 34-8 on the season, and win its 14th game when allowing the opponent to score first this season. Troy falls under .500 at 20-21.
Chase Horst recorded his third win of the season with two innings of scoreless ball, fanning a Trojan batter. Skyler Hutto recorded his CUSA-leading 10th save of the year, taking down the Trojans in order in the bottom of the ninth. Noah Thigpen took his fifth loss of the year to fall to 0-5.
Troy jumped on top of the Gamecocks early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. The first run of the game came on a bases-loaded wild pitcher, and the lead extended to 4-0 with a three-run homer by Jimmy Janicki right after the wild pitch.
The score held steady at 4-0 until the top of the fourth inning, when the Gamecocks put together five runs on four hits to take the lead.
Trey King, Luke Williams, and Matthew Cash strung together three-straight singles to load the bases, followed by Ace Williamson taking four-straight balls to walk with the bases loaded, getting the Gamecocks on the board. A sacrifice fly to left from Jaxon Pate brought Williams home to cut the Trojan lead in half at 4-2.
After taking a first pitch strike and a ball, Caleb Johnson scorched a ball 369 feet to right field over the sideboard, hitting his seventh homer of the season and scoring three runs to give Jax State a 5-4 lead. It was his second homer in as many games.
From there, the pitching kept both teams in check, including both sides going three-up, three-down in the sixth and seventh innings.
Hutto was brought in for the top of the ninth inning, and the Trojans began to try and rally with a lead-off single. However, a 3-6-1 double play erased the base runner and put Jax State at a two-out advantage with the nine hole batter up to the plate. On a 1-2 pitch, the pinch hitter grounded out to Johnson to cement the 5-4 victory for the Gamecocks.
With the win, Jax State has now won three of the last four over Troy.
The Gamecocks return home for a weekend conference series versus New Mexico State. Game times have been adjusted for the weekend, with Friday still starting at 6 p.m., but Saturday moves up to 2 p.m., and Sunday to 11 a.m.
