JACKSONVILLE – The Jax State baseball team will travel west on Tuesday evening to take on the Samford Bulldogs in the team's penultimate midweek contest. Action from Joe Lee Griffin Field is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Jax State carries a 36-9 record into the game after winning its sixth Conference USA series of the year against New Mexico State. After dropping its first Friday game in CUSA play, Jax State shut out New Mexico State in back-to-back games to claim the series and re-establish a three-game lead in the CUSA race.
Beau Bryans and
Jackson Sleeper pitched a combined shutout, with Bryans matching his career-high of 10 strikeouts in six and a third innings. On Sunday,
Steven Cash pitched a shutout in seven innings as the Gamecocks earned a 10-0 run-rule victory to secure its sixth CUSA series.
Samford comes into the contest with a 23-19 record after stepping out of Southern Conference play and sweeping USC Upstate. In the overall series, Jax State is 56-37 against the Bulldogs. In the earlier meeting between the two, Samford snapped a seven-game winning streak by Jax State with a 7-6 victory in Jacksonville. Jax State swept the 2025 two-game series between the two programs, and looks to avoid getting swept for the third time in four years.
In last week's midweek action, Jax State whupped Troy, 5-4, to win the rivalry match up. The Trojans jumped on Jax State in the bottom of the first inning, scoring four runs by way of a wild pitch and a three-run homer, but the Gamecocks answered in the top of the fourth with five runs, including a three-run homer of their own. After conceding a lead off hit to Troy in the second inning, the Gamecock pitchers did not allow another hit until the bottom of the ninth.
With the two shutout victories over the week, the Gamecocks rank third nationally with six shutout wins. The Gamecocks only trail Oregon and Florida, who both have seven shutout wins.
Jax State players Eli Pillsbury and Grayson Ashe have taken home some personal accolades in recent days. Pillsbury was named Midsesaon All-America by D1Baseball (2nd Team) and Perfect Game (3rd Team), while Grayson Ashe was named to the Buster Posey Award Midseason Watchlist. On April 22, Pillsbury was named a National Pitcher of the Year Semifinalist by the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jax State claimed a spot in three national polls over the previous few weeks, headlined by the program's first appearance in the Baseball America rankings with a ranking of No. 24. The team rose to No. 21 in the Perfect Game poll. The Gamecocks are currently ranked 25th in the NCBWA poll and are receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll (25 points, 26th-most). PEARatings has Jax State at No. 2 in the mid-major NET ratings.
Both sides have announced their starting pitchers, with the Gamecocks set to throw righty Ryan Geraghty, who is 1-1 with a 6.20 ERA, to begin the game. Samford has announced that they will throw right-hander Michael Fredette, who is 0-2 with a 14.54 ERA.
The game will be televised on ESPN+, and fans can listen to Mike Parris and Jim Case on the Gamecock Radio Network.
