CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Virginia baseball surrendered 15 runs on 17 hits as the Cavaliers opened play in the NCAA Tournament in the Hattiesburg Regional Friday night, falling to Jacksonville State 15-7.

Virginia shortstop Eric Becker exited the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and was shown with ice on his left forearm in the dugout after he was hit by a pitch in his first at bat in the bottom of the first inning. He was replaced by freshman RJ Holmes who went 2 for 2 with two doubles and three runs scored, while second baseman Joe Tiroly was 3 for 5 with a home run and four RBI.

Jacksonville State shortstop Caleb Johnson went 3 for 6 with a home run while driving in three runs, and first baseman Brady Thomas was 3 for 5 with three RBI to lead the Gamecock offense.

Virginia will face host and No. 9 national seed Southern Miss Saturday in an elimination game at 4 p.m., while Jacksonville State will face the Little Rock Trojans in the winner’s bracket at 9 p.m.

Jacksonville State second baseman Cooper Blauser got the Gamecocks on the board in the top of the second inning with a 2-run home run to right center field off Virginia starting pitcher Henry Zatkowski to make it 2-0. Next inning, the Gamecocks used small ball to put pressure on the Cavalier defense which committed two errors on bunts that led to two more runs scoring in the top of the third.

Jax State opened the game up in the top of the fifth inning scoring four more runs to build their lead to 9-0. Matthew Cash drove in two runs with a single and left fielder Trey Majette brought home another with a triple down the right field line. The Cavaliers finally got on the board in the bottom half of the inning after Holmes led off with his first double and scored two batters later on an RBI single from Tiroly. Cavalier catcher Jake Weatherspoon drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to make it 9-2.

Gamecock first baseman Brady Thomas drove in his third run of the night with an RBI double in the top half of the sixth, but UVA responded with an RBI double from AJ Gracia followed by a two-run home run from Tiroly to cut the Gamecock lead to five. The Jax State offense answered with three of their own in the top half of the seventh to widen the advantage to 13-5. During the inning Virginia head coach Chris Pollard was ejected after arguing a pitch clock violation called on Lucas Hartman. The ‘Hoos managed two more runs in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI double from Tiroly and a run scoring single from Harrison Didawick before the Gamecocks cashed in two more with Johnson’s homer in the top of the ninth.