ATLANTA-Ryan Fleming homered and drove in four runs and Theo Asher also homered as Georgia State defeated Towson, 9-6, Sunday at the Field at Panthersville to complete a sweep of the Colonial Athletic Association series.
Georgia State won its fourth straight game and first series over Towson since 2007 to improve to 13-4, 3-0 CAA, while Towson fell to 4-9-1, 0-3 CAA.
"To win three games like this in conference play is certainly the way we wanted to start," head coach Greg Frady said. "We put three good games together, and today was the best of the three."
GSU starter Aidan Francis (3-0) threw five innings with two strikeouts to earn his third victory of the season. Relievers Jeremy Gazerro and Jake Dyer combined for four scoreless innings, with Dyer picking up his second save of the season.
Fleming capped an outstanding weekend in which he had game-winning hits Friday and Saturday. The senior outfielder batted .429 for the series with six RBIs.
Georgia State took the lead for good with a three-run fourth inning that broke a 4-4 tie. A double by Mark Micowski, a single by Brett Maxwell and a walk by Rob Lind loaded the bases with no outs. Brandon Williams grounded into a double play to score one run. After an intentional walk to Fleming, Carter Sackett singled to score Maxwell with the go ahead run. Sackett was thrown out at second a batter later on a double-steal attempt, but not before Fleming crossed the plate, putting the Panthers ahead, 7-4.
Asher's solo home run in the fifth, the first of his career, extended the Panthers' lead to 8-4.
"It was a great feeling," the senior said. "I got a pitch I could hit on 3-2 and took advantage."
Towson inched closer with two runs in the sixth, but Georgia State got one back on a sacrifice fly from Fleming to lead 9-6 after six.
From there, Gazerro and Dyer shut the door with scoreless relief. Gazzero tossed three innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out four. After a walk to the leadoff batter in the ninth, Dyer came in and struck out Nick Natoli before getting Pat Fitzgerald to ground into a game-ending double play.
"Towson has a good team," Frady said. "We really had to play well and we did."
The Panthers jumped in front on Fleming's three-run homer, his third of the season, in the bottom of the first. Towson answered immediately in the top of the second, beginning with a solo homer by Andrew Parker. An RBI double by Ben Winter, followed by Brandon Gonella's run-scoring single, tied the game at 3-3.
Georgia State's homestand continues as the Panthers host Alabama State Tuesday at 5 p.m.
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