Indians blow late lead, fall to JSU

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- Jacksonville State scored nine runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and a single run in the bottom of the 10th to rally for a 15-14 victory in the rubber match of a three-game series against Southeast Missouri Sunday afternoon at Rudy Abbott Field.

Robby Goodson, who entered the game in the seventh inning with the Gamecocks trailing 14-5, pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed only one hit to get the win on the mound. The senior also provided the winning run with a solo home run over the right centerfield fence on the first pitch from Brad Gilbert in the bottom of the 10th inning.

"This was a tough one to lose, but I am proud of the way we played today," said Southeast head coach Mark Hogan. "We know what it feels like to be on the other end of a game like this after the game we had against Arkansas State. I hope we can take something positive from this into the next series."

Against Arkansas State, Southeast (12-15, 3-3) came back from a six-run deficit in the eighth inning to take home a 12-9 victory. On Sunday, it was the Indians who were rallied against.

After JSU (12-14, 5-1) scored single runs in the first three innings, the Indians used a three-run fourth to tie the game.

JSU responded in the bottom of the inning with a single run to retake the lead by a 4-3 margin. The Gamecocks' lead was quickly erased as Southeast sent 13 batters to the plate in the top of the fifth. The Indians scored nine runs off only two hits as JSU committed two errors and walked in two baserunners.

Frankie Montiel recorded the first hit of the inning with a two-RBI double to left center that scored Ernie Bracamonte and Eric Horstman. The Tribe scored the next four runs off JSU miscues, including an error, a wild pitch, and two bases-loaded walks.

With the score 9-4 and two outs, Bracamonte extended the lead to 12-4 with a three-RBI double. The hit represented Southeast's second of the inning, but the Indians had claimed an eight-run advantage.

JSU added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning before Southeast pushed the lead to 14-5 with two runs in the top of the seventh.

Goodson came in to record the final out of the seventh inning and began the JSU rally in the eighth with a three-run home run. Following the homer, the Gamecocks got a bases-loaded walk and RBIs from Jake Ball (one-run single) and Clint Carroll (two-run single). Ball also scored when Hicks hit into a double play for the first two outs of the inning to make the score 14-13. JSU tied the game by drawing a second bases-loaded walk of the inning to make the score 14-14 after eight innings. Indian pitchers walked six batters and hit one batter in the inning.

After a scoreless ninth inning, Goodson needed only one pitch to win the game in the 10th.

Gilbert (0-1) suffered the loss for Southeast, giving up three runs on four hits. The Indians were led by Montiel, Bracamonte and Gilbert, who each went 2-for-5 at the plate.

Goodson (1-0) finished the day 3-for-4 with a single to go along with his two homers. On the mound, he recorded five strikeouts and earned his first victory of the season.

JACKSONVILLE ST. 15, SOUTHEAST 14

SOUTHEAST JACKSONVILLE ST.

ab r h rbi ab r h rbi

Horstman,3b 5 2 1 2 Hicks,3b, 4 3 2 1

Bracamnt,ss 5 2 2 4 Ruckdschl,lf 6 3 3 1

Montiel, cf 5 1 2 2 Goodson,dh/p 4 2 3 4

Lopez, dh 5 0 0 0 Stein,rf 4 2 2 1

Kurt, lf 5 2 0 0 Civello,1b 3 1 0 2

Gilbert, 1b/p 5 2 2 3 Smith,c 4 1 1 0

Fangman,rf 3 1 1 1 Pettus,2b 3 2 1 1

Jenkins,2b 4 2 1 0 Ball,ss 4 1 1 1

Noll,c 2 2 1 1 Horn,cf 4 0 1 0

Fernandez,c 1 0 0 0 Carroll,ph 1 0 1 2

Forsythe,p 0 0 0 0 Russaw,pr/cf 0 0 0 0

Smith,p 0 0 0 0 Pearson,ph 1 0 0 0

Lawson,p 0 0 0 0 Tucker,cf 0 0 0 0

Carter,p 0 0 0 0 Forrest,p 0 0 0 0

Hullis,1b 0 0 0 0 Drinkard,p 0 0 0 0

Herbig,p 0 0 0 0 Booth,p 0 0 0 0

Maupin,p 0 0 0 0

Hoffman,1b 10 0 0 0

Totals 41 14 10 13 Totals 38 15 15 13

R H E

Southeast 000 390 200 0 - 14 10 1

Jack. St. 111 101 090 1 - 15 15 2

E -- Jenkins; Pettus; Ball.

DP -- Southeast 2. LOB -- Southeast 9, Jacksonville St. 15.

2B -- Bracamonte; Montiel; Gilbert; Noll; Ruckdeschel; Smith; Scott; Petuus. 3B -- Hicks. HR -- Goodson 2; Stein. SB -- Gilbert, Goodson. SF -- Bracamonte; Hicks; Dann.

Southeast IP H R ER BB SO

Forsyth 2.1 5 3 3 3 4

Smith 4.2 3 2 2 2 4

Lawson 0.0 3 5 5 2 0

Carter 0.0 0 2 2 1 0

Gilbert 1.2 4 3 3 2 1

Herbig 0.0 0 0 0 1 0

Maupin 0.1 0 0 0 1 0

Jacksonville St. IP H R ER BB SO

Forrest 4.1 6 6 4 1 4

Drinkard 0.1 0 3 0 2 0

Booth 2.0 3 5 1 4 1

Goodson 3.1 1 0 0 2 5

Winner -- Goodson (1-0). Loser -- Gilbert (0-1).

WP -- Gilbert; Drinkard; Booth.

HBP -- by Booth (Noll); by Smioth (Pettus); by Smith (Ruckdeschel); by Goodson (Fangman); by Carter (Smith); by Maupin (pettus) PB -- Smith 2.

Umpires --Cheeh, Hollis, Putnam.

Time: 3:41; Attendance: 222.