EDWARDSVILLE – Jacksonville State kept SIUE baseball out of the win column, sweeping a doubleheader Friday. The Gamecocks earned a come-from-behind 9-7 win in game one before winning the night cap 13-4.
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SIUE is now 0-11 overall and 0-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Jacksonville State improved to 7-6 overall and 2-0 in OVC play.
The series win is the first for Jacksonville State over SIUE since the 2013 season. The Cougars had won five of the last six regular season meetings between the two teams.
In the opener, the Cougars set season-highs with seven runs on 11 hits. After going down 1-0 in the top of the second inning, SIUE bounced back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning before taking the lead with a four-run third. Keaton Wright had an RBI double in the inning and Skyler Geissinger and Jacob Stewart each added an RBI-single and the Cougars led 5-1 after three innings.
JSU trimmed the lead to 5-4 with three runs in the top of the fourth. The Cougars scored a run in the fifth and both teams scored in the seventh and it was 7-5 SIUE going into the ninth inning.
Ryan Agnitsch, working in his fourth inning in relief retired the first two hitters before giving up a two-out single to JSU second baseman Clayton Daniel.
D.J. Hickey (0-1) followed Agnitsch and allowed a double to pinch hitter Ty Pierce which cut the SIUE lead to 7-6. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases before Austin Green, also pinch hitting, laced a double into the right field corner to put the Gamecock up 8-7. Taylor Hawthorne followed with a squeeze bunt for the 9-7 final.
"Offensively we did a good job (in the first game)," SIUE Head Coach Tony Stoecklin said. "A couple of guys stepped up and did well. Jacob Stewart had a good game. Woodcock took good at-bats, so did Kailer (Smith). We were much better than what we've been."
Smith, Wright, Woodcock and Stewart each had two hits in the first game.
P.J. Schuster started the game and allowed four run, one earned, on seven hits in five innings. He struck out one and walked one. Agnitsch allowed two runs on three hits in 3.2 innings in relief. He struck out three.
"P.J. did a good job and (Agnitsch) did the job and kept us in the game," Stoecklin added. "We just couldn't get that last out."
The Gamecocks finished with 13 hits in the opener. Five players has two hits JSU. Green and Josh Bobo each had two RBIs.
Jacksonville State jumped on SIUE starter Conner Buenger (0-4) early in game two. Gavin Golsan walked to start the game and then Daniel singled. Paschal Petrongolo grounded out to bring in a run and Hayden White capped the inning with a two-run home to straight-away center field to put JSU up 3-0 after a half inning.
"It's really tough," Stoecklin said of playing a second game after a difficult loss. "You have to find a way to put it past you. We talk all the time about having a short memory. It's no different than your last at-bat. When it doesn't well, you have to forget about it real quick. It's not easy, but it's something you have to do."
The Gamecocks scored three times in the third inning, added a single run in the fourth and then plated four more runs in the fifth inning and led 11-1 after five innings.
Buenger pitched into the fifth inning, allowing nine runs, seven earned, on 11 hits. He struck out two and walked two.
"No doubt we had some carryover, since we got down so quickly," Stoecklin said. "It's something we need to improve upon. That's something that an inexperienced team does. And that's something we talk about and something we're going to get better at."
Meanwhile, JSU starter Jack Pierce (1-0) retired 12 straight hitters following Layton's double. He went on to throw seven innings allowing three runs on three hits. He struck out seven and walked three.
SIUE picked up a pair of runs in the sixth inning thanks to consecutive run-scoring doubles by Logan Andersen and Wright.
Jacksonville State scored a run in the seventh and another in the ninth inning. The Cougars also added a run in the ninth on an RBI-single by Stewart.
SIUE finished with just five total hits in the second game, while JSU collected 28 hits. White led the way, going 4 for 5 with the home run and two RBIs. Taylor Hawthorne was 2 for 5 and drove in three runs.
The Cougars will try to salvage a win from the series with the finale set for Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
"You have to worry about what is going to happen next and not focus on what happened in the past," Stoecklin added. "We talked in our meeting before we left the clubhouse tonight about coming out focused on what we'll do in that game and not worry about what happened today."
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