FINAL STATS  |  PHOTO GALLERY

JACKSON, Tenn. – Senior Austin Lucas scattered 10 hits and had five strikeouts to lead Jacksonville State to a 7-5 win over Eastern Illinois in the second round of the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference baseball championship on Thursday evening.

The Gamecocks improve to 30-24, posting the seventh consecutive 30-win season under Jim Case, and advance to the winners bracket final. Jax State also won its OVC opening tournament game for the seventh straight year.

Lucas threw 123 pitches in 7 2/3 innings to improve to 6-0 on the season for the Gamecocks, while
Todd Hornsby threw nine pitches in the ninth inning to earn his fourth save of the year.. EIU ace Josh Mueller (3-2) gave up six runs on seven hits to suffer the loss for the Panthers.

The Gamecocks took the lead in the second inning after Andrew Edge led off with a triple and Kyle Bluestein followed with a RBI double to right field to give JSU the early lead.

Daniel Adamson then had a single to third base and Sam Eberle followed with a walk to load the bases. Jake Sharrock then drew a bases loaded walk to score Adamson and give JSU a 2-0 lead.

Todd Cunningham drove in a run with an infield grounder and Bert Smith drove in the final run of the inning with a single up the middle as the Gamecocks took a 4-0 lead.

The Panthers cut the lead to 4-3 in the fourth inning after Zack Borenstein hit a three-run home run to right field, but Jax State answered in the seventh inning.

Cunningham reached on a one-out walk and Steven Leach followed with a two-run home run to right field to extend Jax State's lead to 6-3. It was the third home run of the season for Leach and the second straight game he homered.

Eastern Illinois cut the lead to 6-5 in the top of the eighth inning after Alex Gee hit a two-run home run to left field, but the Gamecocks added an insurance run in the home half of the eighth.

Sam Eberle had a one-out single and Sharrock following with a walk. Cunningham then had a two-out single to the pitcher, but an EIU throwing error allowed Eberle to score for the final margin.

Smith, Edge and Adamson each had a pair of hits to lead the Gamecocks, while Leach led the team with two RBI. Shawn Ferguson and Richie Derbak each had two hits to lead EIU.

Jacksonville State will now play the winner of the Eastern Kentucky-Tennessee Tech game on Friday at 7 p.m.