Georgia State led 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, but Old Dominion rallied to score the tying run on a Panthers error and the winning run with two out in the ninth as the Monarchs swiped a 3-2 victory from the Panthers in Norfolk, Va., Friday night.
Junior Kenny Camp found himself at the heart of both runs the Panthers scored, twice giving State the lead. In the fourth, Camp drove in Chase Childers with a sacrifice fly to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Old Dominion would tie the score in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Nick Erdman.
Defensive miscues on both sides kept the game even in the eighth. With runners on first and second and two out, a pop up by Camp was dropped by Anthony Shawler, letting junior Luke Gordon race home from second with the go-ahead run. But in the bottom half of the frame, a potential inning-ending double play instead turned into a run scoring play as the throw to first by Childers went wild, allowing the tying run to score.
That set the stage for the ninth inning. Each team got their leadoff batter to second with one out, as State's Eric Suttle singled for his third hit of the contest and Jean-Michel Rochon-Salvas sacrificed him to second in the top half; Shawler was hit by a pitch and Tyler Belcher sacrificed him to second in the bottom half. State would get runners on the corners after a walk to Matt Van Horn and a flyout to right by Gordon enabling Suttle to reach third. But Childers would strike out to end the top of the inning. In the bottom half, Kevin Dooley entered in relief and got the first out on a fly ball to right. But Gerard Hall would single to right field to score Shawler and give ODU the 3-2 victory.
Bowling (6-2) was stuck with the loss as he was charged with two runs (one earned) in 2.2 innings of work. Starter Drew Grant pitched well, giving up just one run on five hits in 5.2 innings. Ross Fetterly (1-2) took the victory for ODU, retiring two batters in the ninth inning.
The two teams will resume their CAA series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
