JSU baseball: Madliak shines in leadoff spot, but Gamecocks fall to South Alabama

Mar. 11—JACKSONVILLE — Looking for a spark at the top of the lineup, Jacksonville State head coach Jim Case made a change Friday night, inserting Bear Madliak into the leadoff spot.

The move paid off, but it wasn't enough for the Gamecocks to avoid a 6-3 loss to South Alabama.

Madliak, a freshman catcher who transferred from Georgia, finished the game with a career-high three hits.

"You go 3-for-5 every night, you've got a job for life," Case said. "We were just trying to switch it up a little bit. We hadn't been doing a great job of being on base as a leadoff man. Bear had, but he was batting down in the six hole, so we thought, well, just let him lead off and see what happens.

"He did a good job tonight. He did. He hit a couple of balls good. You know, getting three hits is a big deal for us."

Madliak's hardest hit ball came in the bottom of the seventh inning. He laced a ball up the middle that ricocheted off South Alabama pitcher Matthew DeLano's thigh. Second baseman Erick Orbeta recovered the ball and tried to record the third out of the inning, but Madliak busted it down the line in time to beat the throw, driving in Brennen Norton for the Gamecocks' first run of the night.

Madliak also singled in the third and fifth innings, giving Case what he was looking for at the top of the lineup.

"I go up to the plate and I battle, and usually, I go up there, and I get on base." Madliak said. "That's my goal."

Madliak was behind the dish to catch another gem from JSU ace AJ Causey, who set a career-high with 11 strikeouts Friday. Causey allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks over seven innings

He did a good job mitigating damage to keep the Gamecocks in the contest. The Jaguars loaded the bases with two outs in the second inning but came away with nothing. Causey also ran into trouble in the sixth and seventh but limited South Alabama to just a single run in each inning.

"I thought he was outstanding. I thought he ran into a little trouble a couple of times," Case said. "Pitched out of trouble, I want to say, in maybe the second inning. And then in the sixth and seventh, he limited damage, did a great job. I thought he was about as good as he could be."

What to know

—JSU tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning after two South Alabama errors allowed Mason Manors and T.J. Reeves to cross the plate. The Jaguars broke the game open in the top of the ninth, scoring three runs after JSU pitcher Reid Fagerstrom allowed the first three Jaguars he faced to reach base. After walking the first, Fagerstorm committed a throwing error that allowed the second to reach. The third got on with a bunt single. Fagerstrom took the loss, allowing three runs — all unearned — on three hits and a walk.

—Maners extended his on-base streak to 26 games with a two-out single in the first inning.

—After starting the season 2-for-23, Norton continued to turn things around Friday. After going 3-for-4 against Auburn on Wednesday, he went 2-for-4 against South Alabama on Friday, raising his batting average to .226.

Who said

—Madliak on Causey: "His slider is really good. That's probably his best pitch, and his changeup was really working in the first inning today, so he's a really solid pitcher."

—Case on Norton: "He can hit. That's what he does. I expect him to continue to swing the bat good. I think his whole life he's been a hitter. There's no reason to think that he's going to stop now."

—Case on what went wrong late in the game: "In the eighth and the ninth inning, you could boil it down to free bases, whether it be a walk or a hit batter, just, you know, free bases," Case said. "It's hard to win close, good baseball games if you are giving the other team free bases, and especially when they are a good team, and South Alabama is. It just bit us at the end."

Next up

JSU (4-10) will complete its three-game set with South Alabama today with a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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