ORLANDO – Jacksonville State junior right-handed pitcher Jessie Corn tossed a four-hit shutout to lead the visiting Gamecocks past UCF 6-0 Friday night at Jay Bergman Field. The last time an opponent shutout UCF at home was March 30 of last season when Samford blanked the Golden Knights, 2-0. Corn is also the first pitcher to throw a complete game shutout vs. UCF since the 2002 season when Bethune-Cookman’s Helpiz Moises accomplished the honor.
With the win, JSU improved to 8-5 in the A-Sun and 16-12 overall while UCF dropped to 19-9 and 4-3 in the conference.
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the Gamecocks scored three runs. JSU loaded the bases for Bobby Hicks, who delivered a two-run single to give JSU a 2-0 lead. Hicks came around to score later in the inning on a throwing error by Nathan Kragt on an attempted double play to give JSU a 3-0 lead. UCF committed two errors in the inning leading to two unearned runs.
The Gamecocks put the game away with two more unearned runs in the seventh. Matt Ruckdeschel drove in two runs with a single to pad the Gamecock lead to 5-0. JSU added a run in the eighth to close out the scoring at 6-0.
Ruckdeschel was 3-for-5 with two RBI on the night for JSU while Brian Haskins finished 2-for-3 with two RBI for the victors.
Corn was sensational all night long, striking out six UCF batters and issuing just one walk. UCF starter Taylor Cobb pitched well in defeat, allowing just one earned run in 6.2 innings of work. Cobb struck out five while yielding just four hits, but JSU took advantage of three UCF errors on the night to score four unearned runs off Cobb.
UCF right fielder Ryan Bear was 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.
The two teams close out the three-game series with two, seven-inning games Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Corn Pitches Shutout Gem To Down Baseball, 6-0
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