GAME ONE FINAL STATS  |   GAME TWO FINAL STATS

JACKSONVILLE – Jake Sharrock hit a walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead Jacksonville State to a 7-3 come-from-behind win over Murray State in the first game of a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series at Rudy Abbott Field on Saturday.

Jake Donze tossed a complete-game and allowed just four hits to lead the 'Breds to a 9-3 win in the second game as the two teams split.

In the opener, the Gamecocks trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the ninth inning before Bert Smith led off with a single and moved to second on a ground out and went to third on a wild pitch. Andrew Edge followed with a RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 3-3.

Kyle Bluestein walked before Daniel Adamson flied out to center for the second out of the inning. Steven Leach then walked on a 10-pitch at-bat to load the bases, before Sharrock ran the count to full before slapping just his third career home run.

Tanner Freshour (3-1) got credit for the win in relief for the Gamecocks, while Mark Harmon (1-4) suffered the loss for Murray State.

Jax State took a 1-0 lead in the second after Edge reached on an error and came around to score on a RBI single by Leach.

Murray State then scored three runs in the third inning, thanks to a RBI single by Cunningham and a two-RBI double by Daniel Hill.

The Gamecocks pushed across a run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Adamson to cut the lead to 3-2. JSU then had the bases loaded in both the seventh and eighth innings, but could not score the tying run until the ninth inning.

Smith and Edge each finished with a pair of hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Wes Cunningham had three hits for Murray State.

In the second game, Donze scattered four hits and had five strikeouts, while Bryan Propst had three hits to lead Murray State to the split.

JSU's Hunter Rivers had five walks in just 2 1/3 innings to suffer the loss for the Gamecocks.

Murray scored one in the first and three in the third to build a 4-0 lead, highlighted by a two-RBI single by Colton Moore in the third.

Jax State scored a pair of runs in the third inning after Andrew Edge slugged a two-run home run to left field, which was the first hit allowed by Donze, as the Gamecocks cut the lead to 4-2.

Murray State tacked on three more runs in the fourth on three straight RBI single by Hill, Propst and Moore as MSU built a 7-2 advantage.

The Gamecocks scored a run in the sixth after Bluestein led off with a RBI double and moved to third on a Leach single. Sharrock then followed with a sacrifice fly to make the score 7-3, but Murray added two more runs in the seventh for the final margin.

The two teams will play the rubber game of the series on Sunday. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Rudy Abbott Field.