Jacksonville State’s starting pitchers didn’t need much run support, but they got it in spades Saturday during a doubleheader sweep of Valparaiso. Read the full story
The Gamecocks (17-8), winners in seven of eight games to end the regular season, finished 13-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play. They will carry the No. 4 seed into the league tournament and play either Austin Peay or Murray State on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Ford Center at Evansville, Ind.
Before beating Southern Mississippi in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday, the Gamecocks were 0-7. Nicole Rodriguez changed that.
JSU’s victory coupled with Tennessee Tech’s 68-67 loss to Murray State on Saturday earned the Gamecocks the fourth seed headed into Thursday’s 1 p.m. tourney opener against No. 5 Tech in Evansville, Ind. The seed matches JSU’s best in Rick Pietri’s eight seasons as head coach.
Photos of the JSU vs Southern Mississippi NCAA softball game.
Photos of the JSU vs Austin Peay men's OVC basketball game.
Photos of the JSU vs Valparaiso NCAA baseball game.
Photos of the JSU vs Austin Peay women's OVC basketball game.
Photo gallery: Casual pictures from Jacksonville State's softball game against Southern Mississippi. Taken with a camera phone.
Jada Terry was the bright spot in the 7-3 loss to Southern Mississippi as she went 1-for-2 with a solo home run. She is batting .353 this season.
Jay Williams singled home Javier Ramirez with two outs in the bottom of the ninth as Jacksonville State beat Valparaiso 5-4 at home Friday night.
Pregame analysis as Jacksonville State plays host to Tennessee Tech on Sunday:
JSU’s road with Zion begins in earnest with Webb’s first collegiate start, against Tennessee Tech on Sunday at 3 p.m. on Burgess-Snow Field.
Ray Harper now has 96 wins in his fifth season at JSU. That's a school Division I record. Mike LaPlante won 95 games in eight years.
Murray State, which doesn't have a deep bench, lost two of its starters in the second quarter but still rallied in the second half to beat Jacksonville State on its own floor 78-75.
JACKSONVILLE — Michael Shaddix has gone from Division II recruit to Division I, from defensive line in high school to offensive line in college and from long injury rehab to healthy.
Jacksonville State fell to Alabama at home Tuesday night 5-2, but Gamecocks freshman Jake Peppers showed again he's a bright spot through the season's first week.
After a false start last week, the Gamecocks solemnly swear they'll play Sunday. They're set to host Tennessee Tech at 3 p.m. at JSU Stadium. Last week, they were to open at Tennessee State, but winter weather forced a postponement.
After leaving the Ohio Valley Conference and before playing in the ASUN, Jacksonville State's football team will make a brief pitstop in what will be known as the AQ7.
JSU trailed 40-38 before Jessie Day hit a 3-pointer with 7:07 to play, jump-starting a 23-7 run to close out the game.
JSU improved to 6-0 and also recorded its third straight sweep. The Gamecocks have dropped only two sets all season.
JSU is No. 16, and the Gamecocks' opponent for Sunday, Tennessee Tech (1-0), is No. 23. The Golden Eagles will visit JSU Stadium at 3 p.m.
After Sunday's sweep of Tennessee State, JSU is tied for first place in the OVC with Morehead State, which knocked off Austin Peay in three sets Sunday. JSU, Morehead State and Austin Peay entered this week's matches unbeaten.
Jacksonville State dropped a softball doubleheader to Samford on Sunday afternoon, falling 5-4 and 5-2. In both losses, the winning runs came in Samford's last at-bat.
Colin Casey, a Jacksonville High graduate, started for the Gamecocks and worked 4⅔ innings, struck out five and allowed two runs, only one of which was earned.
Jalen Finch drove the length of the floor and made a layup while getting fouled to lift Jacksonville State to a 77-76 win at Tennessee State on Saturday.
