ATLANTA- Mark Micowski had three hits and drove in four runs as Georgia State (27-10, 8-6 CAA) evened its Colonial Athletic Association series against Old Dominion (18-18, 10-7) with an 8-4 victory Saturday at the Field at Panthersville.
Panther senior Charley Olson (4-3) allowed just two runs on six hits over seven innings to earn the win, striking out eight and walking only one.
"Charley Olson was the story of the game today," said head coach Greg Frady. "For the second weekend in a row, he put us in position to win a big conference series by winning game two. It was a great victory, today, at a time when we needed to get a win."
After three scoreless frames from both sides to start the game, the Monarchs took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning off Olson on Joey Burney's two-run single up the middle.
The Panthers stormed back in the fifth inning with four runs on five hits off ODU starter Ben Tomchick (5-4), highlighted by an RBI double from Bryan Condotta and a two-run single by Micowski.
GSU added to its lead with four runs again in the sixth, this time off Monarchs reliever Dean Ali. Fleming and Shields started the inning with back-to-back singles, and Theo Asher followed with a walk to lead the bases. Fleming and Shields would come around to score as Shane Hammond and Condotta each reached base on consecutive fielder's choices, making it 6-2. Micowski then cleared the bases with a double off the wall in right field to give the Panthers an 8-2 advantage.
"I thought Mark Micowski, Drew Shields, Ryan Fleming and Shane Hammond all had really big games for us today on the offensive side," Frady added.
Shields finished the day 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Hammond went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored of his own.
Aidan Francis pitched the final two innings of the game for GSU, allowing the final Monarch runs on a two-run homer by Edgar Hernandez.
The Panthers improved to 20-4 at home this season.
"We had a great crowd out at the ballpark that made for a tremendous atmosphere," said Frady. Saturday was Breast Cancer Awareness Day at the park, sponsored by GSU's Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. "The crowd had a great energy today that our guys really fed off."
Sunday's deciding game three is slated for 1 p.m. at the Field at Panthersville.
