FINAL STATS

JACKSONVILLE – Alex Gee went 3-for-4 and drove in four runs to lead Eastern Illinois to a 10-3 win over Jacksonville State to avoid the Ohio Valley Conference sweep at Rudy Abbott Field on Sunday.

EIU's Mike Recchia (5-5) scattered four hits and had nine strikeouts in seven innings on the mound to earn the win. JSU's Aaron Elias gave up eight runs in 2 1/3 innings to get stuck with the loss.

The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Gee hit his fourth home run of the weekend with a two-run shot to left field for the early lead.

Jax State battled back to take the lead in the home half of the first inning on a RBI singles by Kyle Bluestein and Andrew Edge, while Bluestein later came around to score on a groundout to give JSU a 3-2 lead.

Eastern Illinois then scored six runs in the third inning to take control of the game as Gerik Wallsten and Gee each knocked in a run, while Zack Borenstein drove in two more runs for the Panthers. EIU added two additional runs on a Gamecock throwing error as the Panthers built an 8-3 lead.

Eastern added a run in the fifth on a RBI single by Wallsten and Gee knocked in his fourth run of the game in the eighth inning for the final margin.

Edge led the Gamecocks with a pair of hits, while Todd Cunningham, Jake Sharrock, Sam Eberle and Bluestein each added a hit.

Cam Strang and Shawn Ferguson each also finished with three hits for the Panthers, while Richie Derback and Gerik Wallsten had a pair of hits for EIU.

Jacksonville State returns to action on Tuesday in Birmingham against UAB. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. at Young Memorial Field.