JSU baseball: Gamecocks' bullpen falters after strong start from Jones

Apr. 1—JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville State head coach Jim Case couldn't have asked for much more than what he got from starting pitcher Tanner Jones on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the longtime JSU skipper, the bullpen didn't follow suit.

Kennesaw State scored seven runs in the eighth inning and went on to win 7-4, handing the Gamecocks their first ASUN Conference loss of the season.

Jones did everything he could to will the Gamecocks to victory. The sophomore from Thorsby struck out back-to-back Owls to end the seventh inning, giving him a career-high 11 punchouts. A fired-up Jones left the mound having allowed just one hit on the night.

"I didn't even think he had his best stuff, but he battled like crazy all night long," Case said. "And then, you look up, and he struck out 11 in seven innings."

Jones' biggest battle came in the fourth inning when Kennesaw State loaded the bases with no outs. After a mound visit from Case, Jones collected himself and struck out the next two batters he faced. He got out of the inning unscathed after getting a flyout to left field.

"We take a trip to the mound and say basically, 'Hey, if we can hold it to one run right here, we'll take it,'" Case said. "And he's able to pitch out of it."

The only knock against Jones on Saturday was the fact that he allowed five walks, something he's done a good job of limiting recently. Entering the game, Jones had allowed just one walk over his last five appearances.

"Certainly the walks are uncharacteristic of him. I think he's walked one guy in the last four or five outings, and so that's very uncharacteristic," Case said. "But he just battled like crazy. He made pitches when he had to. He gave up one hit and that's it. I mean we can't ask for a whole lot more out of our starter than that."

Things went south after Jake Peppers relieved Jones in the eighth inning. Brayden Eidson tripled to open the frame and scored when Hudson Mims followed with an RBI single. Peppers then walked Nick Colina and hit Donovan Cash with a pitch to load the bases.

Case turned to Reid Fagerstrom, who didn't fare much better than Peppers. A single from Jackson Chirello and a double by Wade Richardson put Kennesaw State on top 4-3. After striking out Connor Evans, Fagerstrom gave up a three-run home run to Tyler Franks.

"We walked a guy. We hit a guy. I mean we kind of helped them," Case said. "You know you can't do that with them. They're a very good offensive team. We knew that coming in.

"I thought Jones pitched fantastic. We did not pitch good in the eighth inning."

Peppers (2-3) took the loss, allowing four earned runs without recording an out. Fagerstrom allowed three earned runs on three hits over one inning.

What to know

—T.J. Reeves drove in the Gamecocks' first two runs of the game with RBI singles in the first and third innings. He finished 3-for-4 with a walk on the night.

—Bear Madliak put JSU up 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.

—The Gamecocks threatened to rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. Javon Hernandez got things going with a one-out single. After Mason Maners struck out, Reeves, Brennen Norton and Carson Crowe strung together three straight singles. Norton's hit drove in Hernandez to cut the deficit to 7-4, and Crowe's loaded the bases. The rally was snuffed out after Derrick Jackson grounded into a fielder's choice.

—Hernandez finished 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. He's gone 21-for-33 at the plate during ASUN Conference play.

—Crowe finished the game 2-for-5. Madliak, Norton, Jackson and Michael Dallas each finished with one hit. Jackson and Dallas scored one run.

—Maners 38-game on-base streak came to an end Saturday. He finished 0-for-5.

Who said

—Case on the ninth inning: "When we fall behind, and we're trying to get the tying run to the plate, just to give us a chance, we actually get the go-ahead run to the plate. It just didn't happen tonight."

—Case on the loss: "It's a disappointing game for us. Certainly we're disappointed right now. We can be disappointed the rest of tonight. We can't be disappointed when we get up in the morning, because somebody is going to win this series tomorrow, and it needs to be us."

Next up

—JSU (14-13, 7-1 ASUN) will complete its three-game series with Kennesaw State (12-13, 4-4) on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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