Audio
Head Coach Greg Frady
Juniors Ryan Fleming and Jonathan Kolowich
ATLANTA - Down to its final two outs in the ninth and with no runners on base, the Georgia State baseball rallied with five runs to earn a 7-6 win over George Mason on Saturday afternoon at the Field at Panthersville. With the score tied at six, junior Ryan Fleming belted a line drive single to right field, scoring senior Carl Moniz from third to send the Panther dugout into a wild celebration.
Fleming finished the game 3-for-5 at the plate, but it was the final hit that proved to be the biggest as six straight Panthers reached base before him.
With the win, Georgia State improved to 26-17-1 overall and 9-4-1 in the CAA. The Patriots dropped to 27-14 overall and 10-7 in conference action. The Panthers are 12-2-1 over their last 15 games and are just two games behind VCU for first place in the CAA.
"As long as our team has at least one out left, we will never give up," commented head coach Greg Frady after the win. "I think that has become the personality of this team. It was just a wonderful day. It was a hard-fought, well-played game on both sides and I just feel really fortunate to score five runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk-off with that victory."
Redshirt-sophomore Joey Wood pinch-hit and singled to start the rally in the bottom of the ninth. Sophomore Justin Malone followed with a walk and Mark Micowski was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Junior Jonathan Kolowich followed with a single up the middle, scoring Malone and Wood to cut the Patriots lead to 6-4. With senior Carl Moniz at the plate, George Mason pitcher A.J. Johnson attempted to pick-off Micowski at second, but the ball hit Micowski in the back and deflected into right field, advancing Micowski to third and Kolowich to second.
Kolowich finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBIs.
Moniz followed with a perfectly placed single, allowing Micowski to score from third and cut the Patriots lead to 6-5. Senior Bradley Logan, who already has a walk-off home run to his credit this season, followed with a single through the left side, scoring Kolowich to tie the game at 6-6.
Logan's single allowed Fleming to provide the final heroics and give the Panthers their sixth straight conference home game victory dating back to last season.
For the second day in a row, George Mason was the team that struck first with a run in the top of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. Mark Hill led off the inning for the Patriots with a walk and scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Steinberg.
The Panthers responded in the bottom half of the inning as Fleming led off the inning with a single to right field. Three batters later with the bases loaded, Malone hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Fleming to tie the game at one.
Micowski followed with a single up the middle, scoring junior Rob Lind from second to give State a 2-1 lead.
George Mason starter Ryan Brecko was relieved by Ryan Pfaeffle after allowing the second run. Brecko lasted 3.2 innings, giving up five hits and two runs, walking four and striking out two.
An inning later, Hill singled up the middle for the Patriots, scoring Brig Tison to tie the game 2-2. Shane Davis followed with a three-run home run to give George Mason a 5-2 lead.
Mason struck for one more in the top of the sixth as Josh Steinberg, who led off the inning with a double to left field, scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Haas.
Panther starter Charley Olson pitched into the seventh, going 6.2 innings, allowing eight hits and six runs, walking four and striking out four, but did not factor into the decision.
Freshman Michael Moch (3-2) pitched the final 2.1 innings for the Panthers to earn the win. Moch held the Patriots to just one hit, while striking out one.
Johnson (2-1) earned his first loss of the season, never recording an out in the ninth after coming in for Anthony Montefusco who left the game with an injury after pitching 2.1 innings and allowing just one hit.
Brig Tison led the Patriots at the plate with two hits, while Mark Hill scored a pair of runs.
The two teams will return to the field for series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. Ryan Moore (2-1, 11.08 ERA) will take to the mound for the Panthers and be opposed by Chris O'Grady (3-0, 3.57 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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