JSU baseball: Frederick's highlight-reel catch, Reeves' blast help Gamecocks earn much-needed victory

May 15—JACKSONVILLE — If Cole Frederick's effort on a fifth-inning pop fly proves anything, it's that Jacksonville State's baseball team isn't going down without a fight.

Running full speed off the crack of the bat, the senior second baseman covered a ton of ground before making a sliding catch in foul territory between first baseman Alex Strachan and right fielder Carson Crowe.

Frederick's catch was just one of the highlights in the Gamecocks' 3-1 win over Central Arkansas at Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium on Saturday night.

"He's one of the few people in the country that can make that play. I truly mean that. There's very few people in the country that'll make that play," JSU head coach Jim Case said. "He's the only guy that I've ever coached that would make that play. It was a huge effort."

Added Frederick: "Everybody knows, do whatever it takes to win, and on that play, I was going to do whatever it took."

It was a much-needed victory for the Gamecocks, who still sit in fourth place in the ASUN West Division standings. JSU (22-27, 15-11 ASUN) trails Eastern Kentucky (32-16, 17-8), Central Arkansas (23-25, 17-9) and Lipscomb (30-19, 16-9). Only the top three in each division are guaranteed a spot in the ASUN Conference tournament.

"From here on out every win is important. I think the guys know that," Frederick said. "Yeah, we dug ourselves into a hole, but this team is going to fight. We know what we've got to do, and however it ends, we're going to fight our tails off."

The Gamecocks got all of their runs in the first inning Saturday. Mason Maners and Frederick led off with back-to-back singles before T.J. Reeves blasted a three-run home run down the left-field line.

Frederick called Reeves' homer, his seventh of the season, "huge."

"T.J. has been big for us all year, and he did it once again," Frederick added.

Three runs were more than enough for starting pitcher Isaiah Magwood (6-2), who picked up the win after allowing one earned run on four hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out the side in the third inning and retired 12 consecutive batters to close out his outing.

Case opted to remove Magwood, who finished with six strikeouts, after letting him pitch into the eighth last weekend in a 5-3 loss at Eastern Kentucky.

"Mags has been pretty solid all year. It was good to see, because last week was a tough one. He gave us a great effort, and we extended him, so I was a little bit worried about extending him tonight," Case said. "I was hoping to get six innings from him and he gave us seven. It was hard to take him out because he was on a roll, but after last weekend, I thought it was the right thing to do."

Case proved himself right by turning the game over to senior Dylan Hathcock, who retired the side in order in the eighth. He gave up a leadoff double to open the ninth but got a strikeout and two fly outs to end it. Hathcock finished with three strikeouts and picked up his first save of the season.

What to know

—JSU honored eight seniors before the start of Friday's game: Frederick, Strachan, Hathcock, Isaac Alexander, Alex Carignan, Luke Coker, Javier Ramirez and Tanner Snow.

—Maners went 2-for-4 and is now tied with Reeves with a team-leading .333 batting average.

—Frederick finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with three singles, upping his batting average to .298.

—Alexander went 2-for-3 with two singles.

Who said

—Case on the importance of Saturday's win: "If we don't, I think the year's going to be over next weekend. What we did is we gave ourselves a chance. I think it makes tomorrow even bigger. If we come out tomorrow and take care of our business then we'll be in good shape."

—Case on JSU's seniors: "I'm one of these people that usually relationships get better the longer it goes. Very few times am I close with a freshman, but by the time they're a senior, you know, there's some tears shed today when those kids come walking out, because I'll miss them when they're gone. It'll never be the same again. You're always going to have that friendship, but it's never going to be like it is right now."

Next up

—The Gamecocks will finish up their three-game series with Central Arkansas on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Assistant Sports Editor Jared Gravette: 256-235-3572. On Twitter: @Jared_Gravette.