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Head Coach Greg Frady
Sophomore Brandon Williams
ATLANTA - The Georgia State baseball team swept a doubleheader with Air Force on Saturday afternoon to extend the Panthers winning streak to seven games. After taking game one 16-9, the Panthers rallied in game two for a 20-7 victory.
Sophomore Brandon Williams led the Panthers at the plate in the two games, going 7-for-8 with two home runs, eight RBIs and three runs scored.
With the sweep, Georgia State improved to 21-15 on the season, including a 14-3 record at home. Air Force dropped its 11th straight to fall to 7-26 on the year. The Panthers are just one win shy of tying the school's record winning streak of eight, set three times, most recently at the end of the 2009 regular season.
"I was once again impressed with our offense tonight," commented head coach Greg Frady. "I thought we had some really good at bats and I thought we competed well all day long. I thought our intensity, focus and concentration was right where it needed to be from the start to the finish."
The Panthers will look to complete the four-game sweep on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. with senior Ryan Moore (2-1) taking to the mound for State.
The Panthers pounded out 18 hits in game one as every starter scored at least one run. State had a pair of six run innings to pull away from the Falcons and win their sixth in a row.
Freshman Michael Moch (2-2) earned the win, going 5.1 innings on the mound. Moch allowed seven hits and four runs, striking out four and walking just one.
Senior Carl Moniz led the Panthers at the plate going 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs score, along with four RBIs. Sophomore Brandon Williams went 3-for-3, extending his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games and raising his batting average .410.
After scoring one in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead, the Panthers scored six in the bottom of the second, chasing Air Force starter Kincaid Koehler (1-5) from the game.
Koehler lasted just 1.1 innings, giving up five hits and seven runs, six of which were earned. The freshman walked five, facing just 14 batters.
Junior Jonathan Kolowich went 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored, while sophomore Daniel Blaustein went 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.
Junior Bryan Condotta added three hits and drove in one as the Panthers won for the 13th time in 16 games at home this year.
Moniz belted his seventh home run of the season in the as part the six-run fifth. Williams and redshirt-sophomore Joey Wood added back-to-back home runs to give the Panthers a 15-3 lead.
It was Williams' seventh home run of the season, while Wood belted his ninth, the tied for the second most on the team.
Junior Rob Lind led off the bottom of the sixth home run of the year, extending the Panthers lead to 16-4. Lind, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter, went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored.
With four home runs in the game, the Panthers increased their season total to 66, just 11 shy of the school record of 77 set during the 2000 season.
Matt Alexander led the Falcons at the plate, going 5-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Juniors Will Campbell and Zach Chastain, along with sophomore Nick Squeglia, combined to pitch the final 3.2 innings of relief.
Every Georgia State starter collected at least one hit in game two, as the Panthers pounded out 23 hits. State belted two more home runs and are just nine shy of the school record with 20 regular season games to play.
Air Force quickly got on the board with two runs in the top of the first in game two, but Georgia State rebounded quickly with six in the bottom half of the inning, chasing Falcon starter Michael Ceci from the game after just one-third of an inning.
The Falcons responded with four in the top of the second to tie the game, 6-6.
Alexander gave Air Force a 7-6 lead in the top of the fourth with a single down the right field line, scoring K.J. Randhawa.
Once again, the Panthers responded with three in the bottom of the fourth, capped by Williams single through the left side, scoring Logan and Wood to give the Panthers a 9-7 lead.
Junior Jeremy Gazerro (4-2) came in relief of junior Charley Olson to get the win. Gazerro went 3.0 innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while striking out two. In 7.1 innings of relief this week, Gazerro has allowed just two hits.
Junior Ryan Fleming belted his 12th home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Panthers lead to 11-7. After scoring two more runs, Williams belted a three-run home run, his eighth of the year, extending the Panthers lead to 16-7. Georgia State plated 11 runs on nine hits and batted around to take a 13-run lead heading to the seventh.
Williams finished the game 4-for-5 with two runs scored and seven RBIs.
Redshirt-sophomore Joey Wood went 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored, while junior Rob Lind went 3-for-4, also scoring three times.
Five Panthers: Mark Micowski, Brett Maxwell, Shane Hammond, Justin Malone and Fleming each collected a pair of hits.
Sophomore Ben Marshall pitched a perfect seventh (the game was only scheduled for seven innings) to give the Panthers the victory.
Steve Colangelo (0-2) took the loss for the Falcons, pitching 1.1 innings of relief. Colangelo was one of seven Air Force pitchers to see work in game two.
Matt Alexander once again did most of the damage for Air Force, going 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBIs. Garrett Custons added two hits and four RBIs in the loss.
Tickets for series finale, as well as the remaining home games, can be purchased by calling 1-866-GA-STATE. Fans can also log on to the web at GeorgiaStateSports.com or visit any Ticketmaster location.
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