DALLAS, Texas — Jax State fell 13-3 in the Conference USA series opener to Dallas Baptist on Thursday night.
The Gamecocks fall to 41-12 and 22-6 in the league, while Dallas Baptist hit the 30-win mark, improving to 30-23 and 18-10 in league play.
With Liberty's loss to Middle Tennessee on Thursday night, 8-1, Jax State clinched the CUSA regular season title outright and will be the No. 1 seed heading in the Conference USA Baseball Championship in Kennesaw, Ga., next week.
Eli Pillsbury suffered his second setback of the season to fall to 6-2, while DBU starter Liam Watt improved to 7-2 on the year.
The Patriots took to the board first with a four-run bottom of the first. An RBI-single by Ben Tyron gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead, and a three-run homer by Jake Bennett immediately after made it 4-0.
Jax State cut into the lead in the top half of the second frame with a two-run double to left center by Trey Majette, halving the lead at 4-2.
The Patriots put together another four-run inning on the home half of the second, with a two-run single by Luke Pettitte followed by a two-run homer by Ben Tyron to lead 8-2.
The fifth inning saw Cooper Neville launch a three-run homer to make it 11-2 after five.
In the bottom of the sixth, DBU added another pair of runs to put the game into run-rule range with an RBI-double by Pettitte, followed by a run scoring on a Jax State error.
The Gamecocks got on base with a double by Caleb Johnson and a walk by Trey King in the top of the seventh inning, scoring a run thanks to a Brady Thomas liner to center field, but couldn't drive a second run home to extend the game.
The Gamecocks will look to even the series on Friday night in the middle game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with pitchers Beau Bryans and Ryan Borberg scheduled to start.
