TUSCALOOSA – Taylor Dugas drove in a pair of runs as No. 23 Alabama erased an early deficit to claim a 7-3 win over Jacksonville State at Sewell-Thomas Stadium on Tuesday.
Trey Pilkington (1-0) allowed just one hit in two innings on the mound to earn his first win for Alabama. JSU's
Kevin Elwell (1-2) gave up five hits in 1 1/3 innings to suffer the loss for the Gamecocks.
Jax State (13-12) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning after
Todd Cunningham led off with a single and
Sam Eberle slugged his 10th home run of the year to give the Gamecocks the early lead.
Alabama (17-6) scored a run in the first on a RBI single by Clay Jones to cut the lead to 2-1, before scoring four runs in the second inning. Taylor Dugas drove in a pair of runs before scoring on a balk and Jon Kelton scored on a Gamecock throwing error as the Crimson Tide built a 5-2 lead.
Jax State scored a run in the third inning after
Bert Smith reached on a fielding error, then stole second and third before scoring on an infield grounder by
Andrew Edge to cut the lead to 5-3.
Alabama scored its final two runs in the third on a RBI double by Cody Trotter and Brett Booth for the final margin.
Blake Seguin led the Gamecocks with a pair of hits, while Josh Rutledge, Jake Smith, Jones and Trotter each had two hits to lead Alabama.
Jacksonville State returns to action with a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series against Tennessee Tech this weekend. Friday's double-header will begin at 1 p.m., followed by Saturday's single-game at 1 p.m. at Rudy Abbott Field.