Harrisonburg, Va.- Georgia State senior Rob Lind belted a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning Sunday at Veterans Memorial Park to give the Panthers a 9-6 victory over James Madison and their first series win in school history over the Colonial Athletic Association's preseason favorite.
Nick Squeglia (3-1) held the lead in the bottom of the ninth against the nation's highest scoring team to earn the win.
The Panthers improved to 25-9 overall, 7-5 in the CAA. James Madison fell to 22-11 overall and 11-7 in league play.
With the win, GSU became the fastest team in school history to reach 25 wins, doing so in just 34 total games- five games ahead of the 2009 NCAA Regional squad's pace.
"It's huge for us," said Lind. "Everybody knows James Madison has been a good team and a good program. Man, it's great to beat them at their place on Sunday."
The Hartford, S.D., native also hit a solo homer earlier in the game, tying a career high with two long balls and five RBIs in the contest.
"I cannot tell you how excited I am," said head coach Greg Frady. "(Lind's grand slam) was just a huge, huge hit. At this time, it's probably the biggest swing of our season."
Sunday's win was just GSU's fourth in 19 tries against the Dukes all-time since 1980, as the Panthers and Dukes split the first two games of the series in a doubleheader on Saturday. JMU and GSU were predicted to finish first and second, respectively, this season in the CAA by the league's head coaches.
"This is absolutely awesome for our team," Frady added. "We used so much energy. When you play this hard, it feels really good to win."
Georgia State jumped out in front Sunday for the third time in the series and built a 3-1 lead after Lind's solo homer in the fifth inning off Dukes starter Evan Scott.
The Panthers added to their lead in the sixth inning with an RBI single by Carter Sackett and another by Theo Asher, his third of the game, making the score 5-1.
James Madison responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, including back-to-back solo home runs by David Herbek and Matt Tenaglia off Panther starter Justin Malone.
The Dukes took the lead in the seventh off Squeglia when Tyler McFarland singled home Herbek for JMU's first advantage of the afternoon, 6-5.
Both teams went scoreless in the eighth, setting up Georgia State's ninth-inning heroics.
Bryan Condotta led off the ninth with a walk off of Dukes reliever James Weiner (1-2). Mark Micowski then laid down a sacrifice bunt that Weiner fielded and threw over the first baseman Tenaglia's head, allowing Micowski to reach second and Condotta to take third. Brett Maxwell followed with a walk to load the bases. Up stepped Lind, who parked a 1-1 fastball over the wall in left center for the game winner.
Squeglia allowed a two-out double to Jake Lowery in the ninth, but popped out Herbek to end the game, with Lind grabbing the final out on defense.
"This says a lot about our desire and our total commitment," Frady said. "This goes a long way and it will help us with our confidence going forward."
The Panthers return to Atlanta for a five-game homestand, beginning with a Wednesday matchup against Alabama State at the Field at Panthersville at 5 p.m. GSU then hosts CAA foe Old Dominion for a three-game series, Friday through Sunday.
