The University of Tennessee at Martin banged out 21 hits and three home runs en route to a 21-16 Ohio Valley Conference win over visiting Jacksonville State Sunday afternoon at Skyhawk Field.

With the win the Skyhawks improve to 6-15 in the OVC and 15-31 overall and avoid being swept by Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks fall to 14-7 in the OVC and 23-22 overall.

The Skyhawks jumped out front 11-1 after two innings of play and led 14-4 going into the top of the fifth inning when Jacksonville State started to fight back.

The Gamecocks took a 15-14 lead into the seventh inning when Skyhawk first baseman Brian Berryman hit a two-strike single to score two runs and give the Skyhawks a 16-15 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Skyhawk catcher Brett Spivy hit a grand slam and the Skyhawks never looked back.

Spivy led the Skyhawks at the plate with a 4-for-5 effort and six RBI. His grand slam was his fifth home run of the season.

Skyhawk senior Adam Salter was 5-for-5 with a home run. He was a triple shy from hitting for the cycle.

Senior Bryant Jones went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI. He now has 88 hits in 46 games this season. He continues to lead the team and the OVC in hits. Jones is sporting a .449 batting average and he has already set a new single season record for most hits as well as a new career record for most hits.

Berryman, Nick Luper and Kayo Anderson also had two hits each in the game. Berryman and Luper drove in three runs each, and Luper hit his first home run of the season.

Jacksonville State roughed up three Skyhawk pitchers, including starter Ben Meador, Adam Ledlow and Dustin Summers. The hurlers gave up 14 hits, four home runs and seven walks on the day.

Summers survived after 3.2 innings of work to pick up his second win of the season. He gave up two runs and four hits in his 25th appearance of the season.

Bobby Hicks and Brian Haskins led Jacksonville State with two home runs each. Hicks was 5-for-6 at the plate with two RBI, while Haskins was 2-for-4 with seven RBI.

The Skyhawks will return to action Wednesday (May 12) when they host Lipscomb University in a non-conference game at Skyhawk Field. Action gets under way at 3 p.m.

The Skyhawks return to OVC play Saturday, May 15 when they open a three-game series against host Samford University in Birmingham.