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The 2014 Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Championship continues with two scheduled games on Saturday.
In the first game of the day, No. 3 Jacksonville State defeated No. 1 Southeast Missouri, 6-2, and then went on to beat No. 2 Tennessee Tech, 10-7 to force a second Championship Game on Sunday.
This season marks the 36th time the event has been held and the fifth year in a row it has been held at The Ballpart at Jackson (formerly Pringles Park) in Jackson, Tenn. The venue is home of the Jackson Generals, the AA-affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
The entire tournament is being streamed live and free of charge on the OVC Digital Network. The games are available in HD and available on any computer, tablet or smart phone.
Game 9: #3 Jacksonville State 6, #1 Southeast Missouri 2
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Game 10: #3 Jacksonville State 10, #2 Tennessee Tech 7
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#3 JACKSONVILLE STATE 6, #1 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
JACKSON, Tenn. - Jacksonville State staved off elimination for the fourth-straight game in topping No. 1 seed Southeast Missouri 6-2 on Saturday at the 2014 OVC Baseball Championship.
JSU (34-25) now advances to the Championship Round of the event to take on Tennessee Tech; the Gamecocks will need to win today's game at 4 p.m. to force a second Championship Game on Sunday.
Southeast Missouri (37-20) jumped out to the quick 2-0 advantage behind a Derek Gibson RBI single and an Andy Lennington sacrifice fly.
But the Gamecocks would tie the game in the fourth inning on a pair of sacrifice flies and grab its first lead in the sixth inning on a Southeast error. From there JSU added an additional run in the seventh and two more runs in the eighth inning.
Paschal Petrongolo had two hits and scored two runs on the afternoon while Bradley Raulston (1-1) picked up the win in relief, allowing just one hit in two innings of work. Travis Stout pitched the final two innings to lock up his league-leading 13th save of the season.
#3 JACKSONVILLE STATE 10, #2 TENNESSEE TECH 7
JACKSON, Tenn. - Jacksonville State won its fifth-straight elimination game in knocking off Tennessee Tech 10-7 to force a second Championship Game at the 2014 OVC Baseball Championship.
Earlier in the day the Gamecocks (35-25) became the first team under the current OVC Tournament format (since 2005) to lose in the opening round and advance to the Championship Round. With its victory over Tennessee Tech (40-18) the team won its fifth tournament game, establishing a new record under this format.
The two teams will play at Noon with the winner earning the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
After eliminating Southeast Missouri earlier in the day, JSU's bats remained hot and they built a 6-0 lead midway through the fifth inning. But the Golden Eagles responded by scoring seven times in the bottom of the frame to take its first lead of the game. After only three total home runs had been hit in the entire tournament to that point, the Golden Eagles hit three in the inning as Tyler Brazelton and Zach Stephens and Dylan Bosheers each hit two-run shots.
But the Tech pitching staff walked the first two runners of the next inning and Paschal Petrongolo singled in a run to knot the game at seven. The Gamecocks would then go on to add two insurance runs in the seventh and one in the ninth.
Pitching on just one day's rest, Taylor Shields gave JSU four innings as the starter, allowing two runs. After brief appearances by Bradley Raulston and Michael Barber, Ryan Sebra (2-0) moved from third base to the mound to pitch 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball and pick up the win. Sebra would also collect two hits at the plate and score two runs.
Travis Stout came on to pitch the final 1.1 innings and earn his 13th save of the season, which ranks fourth in OVC single-season history. It was the 31st save of his career, moving him into third place on the OVC career saves list.
Kyle Keatts (4-2) was the losing pitcher in relief, allowing three earned runs in 3.1 innings of work.