The Georgia State baseball team fell to Xavier (6-4) on Saturday afternoon, 12-4, in their third game of the Bethune Cookman University Invitational. The Panthers (7-4) committed six errors on the day, which were too much to overcome after managing just six hits.
“There are two things happening right now,” commented Head Coach Greg Frady. “The team is not playing great, but we are a good team and sometimes when things start to not go your way, you lose confidence and you start to press to make some extra things happen. We are trying too hard to make things happen and it is leading to some errors. The beauty of baseball is that tomorrow is a new day and we can get the ship righted tomorrow.”
The Musketeers got on the board first in the top of the second. After Jordan Conley walked, Neil Lindgren got on after Panther senior Michael McCree misplayed a ball in left field, allowing Conley to score and Lindgren to advance to third. After Drew Schmidt walked, Adam Pasono hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Lindgren and give Xavier a 2-0 lead.
John McCambridge kept the inning alive with a single, scoring Schmidt to put the Musketeers ahead by three. After Zac Richard was hit by a pitch, McCambridge would score on a wild pitch before the Panthers managed to get out of the inning.
Starter Adam Knight (0-1) would last 4.0 innings, allowing just two hits and four runs, only two of which were earned. Knight finished with six strikeouts and eight walks.
The Panthers got things going in the bottom of the fifth. After McCree reached on an error and advanced to second on a passed ball, senior Theo Asher walked, to be followed by a walk to pinch hitter Jonathan Kolowich to load the bases.
State would get on the board when senior Derek Simmons grounded into a double play, scoring McCree. Junior Carl Moniz would follow that with a single to right, scoring Asher to cut the deficit to two before Xavier got out of the inning.
The Musketeers would load the bases on Will Campbell in the top of the sixth with no outs, but the sophomore would escape giving up just one run.
After allowing a single to start the seventh, freshman Nick Squeglia would relieve Campbell. Campbell would finish the game with 2.0 innings pitched, allowing four hits and two runs, striking out two.
Xavier would score three more in the seventh to extend their lead to six. Richard got things going with a two-out double, scoring two. He would later score on a Bradley Logan error.
The Musketeers would put up their final three runs in the top of the eighth and another in the ninth.
Georgia State will continue their six-game road trip on Sunday as the Panthers take on host Bethune Cookman with first pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. Live stats will be available via GeorgiaStateSports.com all weekend long.
