On the arms of junior starting pitcher Ryan Moore and sophomore Aidan Francis, the Georgia State baseball team took the series finale and series with Northeastern on Sunday afternoon in Boston with a 7-3 win over the Huskies. Moore pitched the Panthers into the eighth inning before sophomore reliever Aidan Francis closed the door on Northeastern.
Making the day even more special for the pair, each celebrated his birthday on Sunday.
“The play of Ryan and Aidan today was exceptional,” commented head coach Greg Frady. “Obviously, we are very pleased to get the win, but the day is even more special that we were able to celebrate their birthday's with a win.”
Georgia State, ranked No. 24 in the latest SEBaseball.com mid-major poll, improved to 25-14 on the season and 8-4 in CAA play. Northeastern, which entered the weekend just one game behind the Panthers for second place, now stands at 19-14 and 6-6 in CAA action.
State reached the 25 win total in just 39 games, eclipsing the record mark of 41 games set just last season during the Panthers record breaking season of 33 victories.
The Panthers have now won all four CAA series this season and stand in second place, just 1.5 games back of George Mason.
“Bradley Logan played extremely well in the field today and had a couple of big hits,” commented Frady. “Carl Moniz' huge two-out, two-run single that gave us a 5-2 lead and Marc's home run in the top of the ninth to close it out made it a truly great win for us.”
Moore (4-1) pitched 7.1 innings, while allowing just five hits and two runs. The junior also struck out six and tied senior John Locklear for the most wins on the team with just over four weeks to go in the regular season.
The Panthers got on the board quickly in the first inning senior Matt Van Horn singled in senior Chase Childers to put State ahead, 1-0. It was the first of two runs Childers scored in the game.
State scored again in the top of the second as sophomore Theo Asher hit a sacrifice fly to score Moniz. The junior finished the day 2-for-5 at the plate with a pair of RBI's.
Georgia State struck again in the top of the fifth as seniors Nick Hogan and Derek Simmons led off the inning with a pair of singles. Childers followed with a single to right, scoring Hogan, as State took a 3-0 lead.
Northeastern got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Frank Pesanello hit a two-run home run to left, cutting the deficit to one.
State came back with two in the top of the seventh as Moniz key two-out single up the middle scored Logan and Childers, giving State a 5-2 lead.
Mimeault hit his team-high eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot and second of the series in the top of the ninth to secure the victory for State.
Les Williams (1-1) took the loss for Northeastern after pitching 5.2 innings allowing nine hits and three runs.
Andrew Leenhouts closed out the game for the Huskies, pitching the final 3.1 innings, allowing just three hits, but four runs, only two of which were earned.
Freshman Justin Malone added a pair of hits for the Panthers as all but one starter scored at least one hit off the Huskies pitching staff.
State's season-high eight-game road-trip will continue on Tuesday as they travel to Cookeville, Tenn. to face Tennessee Tech on Tuesday and Wednesday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday with a 4 p.m. start coming on Wednesday.
