Jacksonville University baseball dropped its opening game in the ASUN Baseball Championship, falling 8-4 to Jacksonville State on a game that ended in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The Dolphins (27-26) took an early 1-0 lead and rallied after falling behind, but did not score after the fifth against the Gamecocks bullpen.
Mason Adams found himself in a jam early, walking the first two men he faced. He found a way to bear down and retire the next three to get out of the inning unscathed.
In the second, Tommy Joseph drew a leadoff walk. He was bunted over to second and Jake Berg came up, ripping a single to score Joseph and give JU a 1-0 advantage after two.
Jacksonville State took the lead in the fourth. The leadoff man struck out, but reached on a passed ball. The next man walked before an RBI single tied it at one. A double plated another run and a suicide squeeze scored a third, with JSU leading 3-1.
They added two more in the fifth. The first two men reached again, on a walk and a hit batsman. After two outs, a double to left field scored the two baserunners and it was 5-1 Gamecocks.
JU found a quick response. Jackson Grabsky led off the frame with a single, followed by a walk to Berg. A sacrificed moved them up and Chase Malloy shot a single to left center to plate two. He went to second on the throw to the plate that Berg scored on, and took third when Christian Coipel singled to second. Blake DeLamielleure greeted the new JSU pitcher with basehit through the right side to score Malloy and get the Dolphins within one, 5-4. The inning ended with the tying run at second, and JU would get no closer.
Adams started the seventh, giving up a leadoff double down the third base line and then walking the next batter. He came back to register his ninth strikeout of the game on the next batter, and then gave way to Leighton Alley. With the infield in, Christian Coipel made a diving stop on a groundball, but his only play was to first, getting an out with a run scoring. An RBI infield single followed and the Gamecocks grew the lead to 7-4.
In the ninth, JSU got a two-out double off the centerfield wall and two batters later, an RBI single through short gave the Gamecocks an insurance run, 8-4.
ON DECK
Jacksonville faces #7 North Florida on Wednesday afternoon after a slight schedule change. The game is now scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at JetBlue Field, the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox.
THREE STRIKES
- Mason Adams became the second Dolphin is as many seasons (after Tyler Santana last year) and only the ninth JU pitcher all-time to reach the century mark in strikeouts. With his nine tonight, he now has 108, good for sixth-most in a single season in JU history
- Chase Malloy was hit by a pitch in the ninth, the 17th time he has worn one this season, the new single-season JU record for HBP
- Malloy registered his fourth multi-RBI game of the year and Jake Berg had his ninth multi-hit game of the season
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