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Head Coach Greg Frady
Sophomore Justin Malone
Junior Aidan Francis
ATLANTA - The Georgia State baseball team opened a key CAA series with George Mason on Friday night with a 9-2 win over the Patriots to move into third place in the conference standings. Sophomore Justin Malone led the Panthers at the plate, going 2-for-2, before moving to the mound to close the game out in the top of the ninth.
With the win, Georgia State improved to 25-17-1 overall and 8-4-1 in the conference standings, percentage points ahead of Mason. The Patriots dropped to 27-13 overall and 10-6 in the CAA. The Panthers are 11-2-1 over their last 14 games and have won five straight CAA home games dating back to last year.
Malone, who was perfect at the plate, while scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs, put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with a bases loaded clearing single to center, before pitching a perfect ninth, his 21st appearance of the season.
"Any time you can win on Friday night, it gives your team a lot of momentum," commented head coach Greg Frady after the game. "To win on this Friday night is probably even a little more magnified, as everybody knows that this is a big series. We put together a very complete game and it feels good to open the series in this fashion."
Although it was the Panthers that earned the victory, George Mason struck first in the top of the second, taking on a 1-0 lead when Brett Hendricks singled up the middle, scoring Dan Palumbo from second.
The Panthers tied the game in the second on the first of three Patriot errors on the evening. With runners on first and third, George Mason starting pitcher Kevin Crum threw wildly to first on an attempted pick-off, allowing junior Shane Hammond to score easily from third.
Junior Rob Lind followed in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out double to left, scoring junior Ryan Fleming and senior Bradley Logan to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead. Two batters later, Lind scored on a double steal as Patriot catcher Brett Hendricks attempted to catch Lind at third and threw wildly into left field to give State a 4-1 lead.
Lind finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
The Patriots responded with one in the top of the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Ryan Soares and Mark Hill, cutting the Georgia State lead to 4-2.
State added another in the bottom of the seventh as Malone led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Crum (5-2) was relieved by Jack Zeltner after going 6.0 innings and allowing five hits and five runs, three of which were earned. Crum walked three and struck out six for just his second loss of the season.
Two batters later, Malone scored on a wild pitch to give the Panthers a 5-2 lead.
Malone's bases clearing hit in the eighth was amplified when Patriot centerfielder Jeremy Haas bobbled the ball, allowing Malone to advance to third. One batter later, junior Mark Micowski singled to center, putting the Panthers ahead 9-2.
Micowski finished the night 2-for-5 at the plate.
Junior Aidan Francis made his second straight Friday night start and earned the win, improving to 4-3. Francis went 6.0 innings, allowing nine hits and just two runs, while striking out six.
He was relieved by junior Jeremy Gazerro who pitched 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit. It was the second Friday night in a row that the trio of pitchers earned the Panthers a victory. Last Friday night, the group combined for 17 strikeouts, one shy of the school record, before fanning 10 tonight.
The two teams will return to the field for game two of the series on Saturday at 1 p.m. Charley Olson (3-4, 4.88 ERA) will be opposed by Ryan Brecko (3-0, 5.10 ERA)
Tickets for that game, as well as all remaining home games can be purchased by calling 1-866-GA-STATE or by visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com. Live stats of all Panther games are provided via GeorgiaStateSports.com.
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