Murray State
Jacksonville State
Jacksonville State Rallies for 4-3 Victory Over Murray State
3/21/2008 5:00:00 AM | Baseball
Steven Leach's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth capped off a Jacksonville State rally as the Gamecocks scored three runs in the inning to defeat Murray State, 4-3, in the first game of a doubleheader at Rudy Abbott Field.
Trailing by two in their final at-bat, the Gamecocks loaded the bases with no outs on a ?Breds fielding error, a hit batter and a base on balls. Pinch hitter Matt McLaughlin drove in a run as he blooped an 0-2 pitch into right field and Leach pulled the ball in the hole between first and second.
The Breds (6-7, 0-1 OVC) took advantage of a leadoff walk to push a run across in the first inning. After taking a 3-2 pitch low-and-away to start the game, Blake Helm stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball with one out. Kyle Tiernan plated the run with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Helm was back at it in the third inning as he laced a single to center and stole second on the next pitch. Elliot Frey pushed the runner to third with a single into the hole at second. With runners on the corners and one out, Wes Cunningham hit a chopped over the head of the first baseman for an infield-RBI single. After a groundout to the right side put two runners in scoring position, Cory Hodskins delivered an RBI chopped over the mound that was cutoff by the second baseman and cut down the second runner trying to score.
The Gamecocks (8-11, 1-0 OVC) got a run back in the home-half of the third as a leadoff hit-by-pitch was followed by a pair of base hits, including a run-scoring chopper up the middle off the bat of Leach.
Brian Booth (1-0) picked up the victory in relief as he allowed just one hit and struckout four over 2.2 innings. Jake Donze (1-3) took the loss as he gave up three runs, two earned, on two hits without retiring a batter.
MSU starter Chris Craycraft was strong on the mound as he allowed just one run and struckout three over eight innings. Likewise, JSU starter Mitch Miller allowed three runs and struckout 11 over 6.1 innings.
The ?Breds six hits came from six different players. Helm led the charge with a pair of stolen bases and runs scored. Leached paced the JSU attack by going 4-for-5 with three RBIs.
The second game is set to begin 30 minutes after the completion of the first game.
