JSU baseball: Gamecocks blow out North Florida to take 2 of 3 in ASUN series

Mark Edwards, The Anniston Star, Ala.
·1 min read

Apr. 8—Jacksonville State hammered four home runs, and Eli Zielinski picked up another win as the Gamecocks shellacked North Florida 16-1.

JSU (16-15, 9-3 ASUN) won two of three in its series with North Florida (17-15, 5-7). The Gamecocks are in second place in the league, just one game behind Florida Gulf Coast (26-6, 10-2), which swept three games this weekend from Queens.

Mason Maners, Caleb Johnson, Javon Hernandez and T.J. Reeves each homered in the win.

The Gamecocks built a 4-0 lead before running away with a 10-run fifth inning.

Brennen Norton started the scoring in the big inning with an RBI double. Derrick Jackson doubled home a run. Johnson then delivered a grand slam, and later in the inning, Reeves hit a grand slam.

The game ended after seven innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Eli Zielinski (6-0) worked five innings to get the win. He allowed seven hits, walked three batters, struck out two and gave up one run, which was unearned.

What to know

—Reid Fagerstrom and Austin Cornelius each worked one scoreless inning of relief.

—Hernandez went 3-for-4 to push his batting average to .417. He drove in three runs and stole a base.

—Maners was 2-for-3 with two walks, two RBIs and a stolen base.

—Norton was 2-for-4 with a double.

—Jackson was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of RBIs.

—Will Fincher went 2-for-4.

Next up

—JSU will host Jacksonville (22-11, 7-5) on Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Senior Editor Mark Edwards: 256-235-3570. On Twitter: @MarkSportsStar.