PADUCAH, Ky. – In game four of the 2006 O'Reilly OVC Baseball Tournament, #2 Jacksonville State defeated #4 Eastern Kentucky, 19-7. The Colonels (28-25) now fall into the elimination portion of the bracket and will play an opponent to be determined tomorrow afternoon.

Jacksonville State (33-22) jumped on top of EKU with four runs in the bottom of the first inning keyed by a Eric Beck three-run homer to center field. However, the Colonels responded with a pair of runs in both the third and fourth innings to level the contest at 4-all.

OVC Player of the Year Charlie Yarbrough came through for Eastern in the third with a two-out, two-run double to right center field. One inning later, sophomore Joe Oliver tallied his seventh home run of the season, this time a two-run blast to left field, to complete the EKU comeback. Oliver was the Colonel offensive star of the game, going 2-for-4 as he later added a double and two more RBIs.

Unfortunately, the Gamecocks responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning to negate the Eastern Kentucky rally. A lead-off walk to Richa Turner from EKU starter Scott Goetz (3-8) signaled trouble for the Colonels. After a passed ball allowed Turner to advance to second, he came home on an RBI single from Jason Horn.

Goetz nearly avoided further damage by getting the next two batters out. However, another RBI single followed by a Garrett Bass two-run blast put the Gamecocks ahead to stay, 8-4. Jacksonville State then added two more runs in the fifth on a Horn home run to give the Gamecocks a six-run cushion. JSU scored at least a run in four consecutive innings starting with the fourth to prevent another Eastern comeback.

Donovan Hand (9-4) earned the win for Jacksonville State by going seven innings and striking out seven Colonel batters. Meanwhile, Bass and Beck combined for nine of the 17 Gamecock RBIs.