Clarksville, Tenn. - The Georgia State baseball team rallied twice on Friday night to earn a 10-9 win over Centenary in the first game of the Governors Challenge hosted by Austin Peay. The Panthers trailed by seven runs before tying it up in the seventh and taking the lead in the bottom of the eighth to earn the victory.
Georgia State has won nine of 11 and improved to 9-8 on the season. Centenary fell to 6-7 with the loss. The two schools will face each other again on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in the Panthers final game of the tournament.
The Panthers trailed 7-0 entering the bottom of the sixth before rallying over the next two innings. Centenary rebounded with two runs in the top of the eighth, before Georgia State rallied again in the bottom half of the inning.
Redshirt-junior Brett Maxwell led the Panthers at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored to raise his batting average to .478. Sophomore Justin Malone (1-0) shut down the Gents over the final 1.2 innings to earn his first victory of the season.
Centenary got on the board quickly in the top of the first as Tell Ross belted a three-run home run off of junior starting pitcher David Buchanan.
The Gents added one more in the second, two more in the fourth and one more in the sixth to lead 7-0 before the Georgia State bats rallied the Panthers beginning in the bottom of the sixth.
Buchanan went 5.0 innings for the Panthers, allowing 12 hits and seven runs, six of which were earned, but did not factor into the decision.
Junior Ryan Fleming began the rally with a single, scoring Maxwell and cutting the deficit to six. Junior Carter Sackett doubled to right field later in the inning, scoring Fleming and junior Bradley Logan to cut the deficit to 7-3.
Centenary starter Boone Whiting was relieved after allowing four hits, three runs, all of which were earned, in 5.2 innings pitched. Whiting struck out eight, but did not factor in the decision.
Redshirt-sophomore Joey Wood, who earned CAA Player of the Week earlier in the week, cut the deficit to two with a triple to left in the bottom of the seventh, scoring Maxwell and junior Mark Micowski.
Following senior Bradley Logan's double to left that scored Wood and cut the deficit to one, junior Rob Lind hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Logan to tie the game at seven.
Logan went 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBIs, including his seventh double of the season.
Junior Theo Asher relieved Buchanan and pitched well, allowing just two hits and two runs, neither of which were earned, in 2.1 innings.
Centenary recaptured the lead, 9-7, with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth. However, the Panthers rallied one more time with a three run bottom of the eighth, as Malone closed the door on the Gents.
With the bases loaded, Logan grounded out, scoring fellow senior Carl Moniz to cut the deficit to one.
On the next pitch, Gents pitcher Stephen Tromblee (0-2) threw a wild pitch, scoring Micowski from third to tie the game.
Junior Jonathan Kolowich followed by reaching on a error by the Centenary second baseman, scoring Maxwell, which proved to be the winning run.
Tromblee went 0.2 innings and was only credited with a walk to earn the loss.
Georgia State will return to the diamond for a doubleheader on Saturday. The Panthers will face Austin Peay at 1 p.m., followed by the re-match with the Gents later in the afternoon. Gerogia State will return home for a pair of home games next week.
Tickets for both home games against Alabama State and Kennesaw State can be purchased by visiting the box office, by calling 1-866-GA-STATE or visiting any Ticketmaster location.
Wednesday's game will air live on WRAS-FM 88.5 with Dave Cohen calling the game. Panther Sports Talk will begin at 5:30 p.m. for the first home broadcast of the season.
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