CUSA Baseball Notes (April 10-12)
 
DALLAS – Two of the hottest teams get ready to square off in one of the top CUSA baseball series of the 2026 season. Unbeaten Jacksonville State heads to Lynchburg, Va., to take on Liberty, who are winners of eight straight. The two squads both sit in the top 30 in RPI with Jax State coming in at No. 27 and Liberty at No. 30.
 
The Gamecocks are coming off a statement road midweek win over No. 15 Auburn 15-4 in eight innings on Tuesday night. The offense scored in six of the eight innings they came to the plate. The win marks the highest-ranked win for Jax State since defeating No. 3 Ole Miss in 2023. Brady Thomas and Grayson Ashe both went yard, while Cooper Blauser paced the team with a five-RBI night.
 
The Flames used a six-run fourth inning to claim an impressive win in Blacksburg over ACC foe Virginia Tech on Tuesday as well. Liberty shortstop Tanner Marsh recorded his fourth three-hit contest and his team-leading 13^th multi-hit game. The shortstop hit .524 (11-21) during Liberty's five-game road trip.
 
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday (6 p.m. ET): LHP Eli Pillsbury (5-0, 1.99 ERA) vs. RHP Ben Blair (5-1, 1.46 ERA)
Saturday (3 p.m. ET):  LHP Beau Bryans (3-0, 3.95 ERA) vs. RHP Jaxon Lucas (2-1, 4.37 ERA)
Sunday (1 p.m. ET): LHP Steven Cash (4-1, 2.93 ERA) vs. RHP Bradley Zayac (4-0, 1.62 ERA)
 
All games streamed on ESPN+.
 
Four of the six scheduled starting pitchers in this series sit in the top six in CUSA in ERA. Jax State (12^th, 3.56) and Liberty (43^rd, 4.36) pitching staffs both land in the top 50 nationally and represent the top two figures in CUSA, respectively. Liberty Friday night starter Ben Blair was recently ranked No. 50 by the D1Baseball.com Midseason Top 50 Prospect List and was named to Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List. Eli Pillsbury, who will toe the rubber on Friday night for Jax State, was named a Midseason All-American by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game.
 
About Jax State (28-6, 12-0 CUSA)
The Gamecocks have made history in just their third year as members of CUSA. No team has ever begun conference play with a 12-0 start. Jax State has claimed a spot in three national polls this week with its first appearance in the Baseball America top 25. They rose to No. 21 in Perfect Game and stayed at No. 24 in the NCBWA poll. Head coach Steve Bieser returned the most production by any CUSA team according to D1Baseball.com after falling just short of a CUSA title in 2025.
 
The offense has been just as good as the pitching as six Gamecocks are hitting above .300 on the season. Jaxon Pate has been quite the spark in the leadoff spot, leading the team in average (.369), hits (41) and on-base percentage (.467). Catcher Grayson Ashe was recently named to the Buster Posey Award Midseason Watch List as he leads the team in homers (7) and total bases (65). Cooper Blauser continues to be clutch at the top of the order. Through 33 starts, he’s hitting .333 with three home runs, a team-leading 11 doubles, two triples and 36 RBI.
 
About Liberty (23-9, 9-3 CUSA)
The Flames have won eight straight contests and are coming off a perfect 5-0 road trip, which included a series sweep of WKU. Liberty enters the weekend in a tie with Missouri State for the second spot in CUSA at a 9-3 mark. Head coach Bradley LeCroy’s squad owns a 12-6 record at home and swept a three-game set with FIU their last time out at Worthington Field. Liberty capped off last weekend with an improbable six-run ninth inning comeback to finish the sweep of WKU.
 
Outfielder Nick Barone had a great month of March, hitting a team-best .348 while driving in 17 runs and scoring 17 runs. Bradley Zayac has been outstanding in his first season in Lynchburg. The sophomore hurler boasts a 1.62 ERA over 44.1 innings while striking out 41 and walking just seven. Blair and Zayac have been a dominant duo on the front and backend of weekends.