Jacksonville State’s baseball team carried the momentum from its three-game weekend sweep of Western Kentucky into Tuesday’s mid-week contest against UAB.
Steve Bieser’s squad scored six runs against the Blazers in the top of the first inning, but the Gamecocks’ pitching and defense didn’t travel to Young Memorial Field in Birmingham.
UAB took advantage of 11 walks and three errors to score a 16-11 win over Jax State that Bieser called “one of the uglier games that I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
Jax State starting pitcher James Wilson took the ball after Ace Williamson staked the Gamecocks to a 6-0 lead with a three-run homer. The junior right-hander couldn’t find the strike zone, hitting the first UAB batter he faced before walking three straight.
Things didn’t get much better for the Jax State pitching staff after that. UAB put up crooked numbers with three runs in the first inning, four in the third and four more in the fifth.
“I thought we got off to a good start. You score six runs in the first inning, you should never lose a ballgame,” Bieser said. “Very frustrated at how we came out on the mound after scoring six. We just didn’t have a lot of life on the mound, and it looked like we forgot how to throw a strike.”
Jaxon Pate led the Gamecocks at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a double, one run and one RBI. The redshirt freshman from Calhoun, Ga., extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He leads all Conference USA hitters with a .418 batting average.
Cooper Blauser went 2-for-3 with a double against the Blazers, stealing one base, scoring two runs and driving in one run.
Grayson Ashe finished 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs.
Trey King went 2-for-3 and walked twice. The Georgia transfer stole one base, scored two runs and drove in one.
Jax State (21-5, 6-0 CUSA) will look to bounce back when it travels to Ruston, La., for a three-game weekend series against Louisiana Tech (15-11, 4-2). The teams are scheduled to play at 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday.
“Hopefully we can flush this and get back to playing some good baseball,” Bieser said.