JACKSONVILLE, Ala.- The Jacksonville Dolphins defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 4-2 on Friday night in the first of three games of their weekend series.
 
"The team did a good job of competing on every single pitch throughout the ball game," said head coach Chris Hayes on what his team did right to get the win. "We got off to a great start with some clutch two-out base hits. We drove in some runs and continued to mark and build the lead."

Evan Chrest (5-0) took the mound for the Dolphins and threw a gem. The freshman allowed just two base runners in the first three innings before he gave up two runs in the fourth. The young hurler rebounded by only allowing one batter to reach the next four innings and struck out the side in the eighth inning to put an exclamation point on his 12 strikeout, eight inning performance.

"Evan really only made one bad pitch tonight to their DH and it cost him," added Hayes on Chrest's night. "Other than that, Evan was absolutely spectacular tonight. Lotito does what he does, comes in and gives us a clean ninth."

The Dolphins jumped out of the gates with back-to-back two out doubles from Kris Armstrong and Hogan McIntosh in the first inning. RBI singles from freshmen Justin Nadeau in the second and Blake Edmonds in the second and third innings, respectively, to push the Dolphins lead to three.

Offensively, JU was led by Justin Nadeau who led the team in both hits with three and RBI's with two. Hogan McIntosh was the only other Dolphin to record a multi-hit game, though five players also had base knocks.

Jacksonville State responded with a two-run homerun in the fourth, however it took the Dolphins just two innings to respond and add an insurance run to their one run lead. Clayton Hodges reached home in the sixth inning after a two-out Nadeau double and the Dolphins went into the later stages of the game up two.

JU closer Chris Lotito came into the game for the ninth and immediately struck out the first batter he faced. After a six pitch walk, Lotito struck out another Gamecocks batter looking and then retired Crowe on a ground out to second to cap the game and claim his Division I leading 10^th save of the season.

"We want to come out well tomorrow," further added Hayes on what he wants to see out of his side tomorrow. "We want to come out with the same mindset and same competitiveness at the plate from the very first pitch. We want to give them the best effort we possibly can and hopefully we end up with a W at the end of the day."

THREE STRIKES

1. Chris Lotito's 10th save earned tonight currently leads the nation. 10 saves is tied for the eighth most in program history in a single season, and the closer sits two saves away from being tied for second all time
2. Evan Chrest's 12 strikeout evening sees him lead the ASUN in K's with 69 - seven more than the next closest pitcher
3. The Dolphins are currently 8-0 in games played on Friday.

UP NEXT

The Dolphins return to the diamond tomorrow evening for game two of the series. First pitch is slated for 7 PM EDT and can be watched on ESPN+.