Jax State Offense Drives Gamecocks to Win Over Virginia

On a day full of upsets, Game 2 of the Hattiesburg Regional promised a good game, but not necessarily an upset. Jacksonville State entered the game as the three seed, something most folks didn't expect from the committee. Jax State's offense came out swinging, and they jumped out to an early lead before Virginia would battle back. Ultimately, they would come up short as Jax State took the 15-7 victory.

Cooper Blauser got the scoring started for Jacksonville State with a 397 foot two-run homer, his first since April 19th. The bats would stay hot in the third inning, as a sacrifice fly by Grayson Ashe followed by a sacrifice bunt by Brady Thomas that ended in a throwing error would drive in two additional runs for the Gamecocks in quick succession. Ashe would drive in another run in the fifth, and Thomas would do the same just one batter later. Matthew Cash would drive in two additional runs followed by an RBI triple by Trey Majette would give the Gamecocks a 9-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.

Virginia would finally get on the board in the fifth on a Joe Tiroly single. Jax State would then make a pitching change, with Beau Bryans leaving with 5 strikeouts and 50 strikes of 91 pitches thrown. The pitching change was followed by a Jake Weatherspoon sacrifice fly to bring in another run for the Cavaliers.

Jacksonville State would strike back in the sixth on a Thomas double, his third RBI of the game. Virginia would score three of their own in the sixth off an AJ Gracia double and a home run by Tiroly, and we'd head to the final third with Jacksonville State holding a five run lead.

The top of the seventh would be the end of the game for Virginia head coach Chris Pollard was thrown out. A Jaxon Pate single would raise the Jax State lead, followed by a ground out by Caleb Johnson bringing in another run. A Trey King double would bring in another run for the Gamecocks and raise their lead to 13-5.

A Tiroly double would bring in another run for Virginia on his 4th RBI of the night followed by a RBI single by Harrison Didawick. A 2-run Johnson homer in the ninth would give Jacksonville a 15-7 lead that would hold to the end of the game.

Post-game, Virginia head coach Chris Pollard talked about the need to put tonight's game behind them. "None of that [not handling bunts, leaving runners on] is winning baseball, and I'm disappointed and frustrated. I know these guys are, too. The reality is that we've got to fix that in the offseason. We don't have time to worry about that right now. We've got to be great at getting back, getting hydrated, getting rested, and waking up tomorrow morning with amnesia."

Jax State's head coach Steve Bieser talked about how they couldn't feel complacent despite facing four-seed Little Rock tomorrow. "The last thing you can do in postseason play is start to feel complacent, and start to feel like you're in a good spot. The only way you're in a good spot is you go out and perform, and you make sure that you're ready to play."

Jax State will face Little Rock in the winner's game at 8pm CT on Saturday. Virginia will face host Southern Miss in an elimination game at 3pm CT.