KENNESAW, Ga. – Jax State, Conference USA's regular season champions and top-seeded tournament team, will open its time in the CUSA Baseball Championship on Thursday afternoon with a game against ninth-seeded Middle Tennessee. Action begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Game two for the Gamecocks will be against sixth-seeded Western Kentucky on Friday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for the same time.
Jax State carries an overall record of 42-13 into the game, its best record as a Division I program so far. Jax State closed out the regular season with a Saturday victory over Dallas Baptist. After dropping games one and two on Thursday and Friday, the Gamecocks put up 13 runs to claim a series-salvaging victory over the Patriots. In that game, three Gamecocks belted homers, including
Sam Richardson and
Brady Thomas going back-to-back, as well as
Grayson Ashe hitting his first homer since the game against Auburn on April 7.
Middle Tennessee comes in with a record of 26-30 after falling to the Hilltoppers, 8-2, to start tournament play on Wednesday. The Blue Raiders and Gamecocks met in April of this year, with Jax State sweeping its foes from Murfreesboro that weekend.
Western Kentucky holds a record of 30-26, earning its 30th win of the season after taking down Middle Tennessee to open tournament play earlier today. WKU is last season's CUSA tournament champion and is looking to defend their title. Jax State opened home CUSA play against the Hilltoppers earlier this season, sweeping WKU.
By virtue of being the top seed, Jax State only needs to win a single game to advance into the single elimination semifinals. The highest remaining seed will face off against the lowest remaining seed in the tournament, while the two middle seeds will face off in the other semifinal. If Jax State holds a record of 1-1 after Friday, the Gamecocks will advance as the highest seeded team with the best remaining record.
In the tournament so far, eighth-seeded Sam Houston rallied from an 11-5 deficit to take down fifth-seeded Louisiana Tech, 14-13. In the nightcap, fourth-seeded Dallas Baptist only allowed two hits to host and seventh-seeded Kennesaw State to take down the Owls, 6-0.
Jax State is 4-2 all-time in the Conference USA tournament, with all six results coming from the 2025 season. Most notably from last season, the Gamecocks won back-to-back games against DBU, including forcing a winner-take-all game, to advance to the championship game.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, 12:30 p.m. Central. Fans can watch on ESPN+, or follow along with Mike Parris on the Gamecock Radio Network.
