ATLANTA- Mark Micowski had three hits and drove in two runs to lead Georgia State past Hofstra, 6-4, on Friday night at the Field at Panthersville in the teams' Colonial Athletic Association series opener.
The Panthers improved to 31-13 on the season, 11-8 in CAA play. Hofstra fell to 11-23 overall and 9-13 in conference action.
Rob Lind added three hits for GSU at the plate Friday, while Theo Asher, Bryan Condotta, Ryan Fleming and Shane Hammond had two apiece as the Panthers pounded out 16 total hits on the night.
Starter Charley Olson (5-3) tossed five innings to earn the win, while Jake Dyer picked up his sixth save of the season.
"I'm so happy to win this game," said head coach Greg Frady. "We earned this win, there was nothing given to us tonight."
Trailing 2-0 in the second inning, the Panthers trimmed the lead in half against Hofstra starter David D'Errico (4-5) as Micowski legged out an infield single that scored Theo Asher.
The Panthers then jumped in front thanks to a three-run fourth inning that featured six hits, started by Lind's leadoff single to right. Brandon Williams and Fleming followed with singles up the middle to load the bases. Lind then came in to tie the game, 2-2, on Drew Shields' sacrifice fly to right field. Asher and Shane Hammond followed with RBI singles to score Williams and Fleming, respectively. Micowski then singled home Asher two batters later with a shot down the left field line that made it 5-2, GSU.
The Pride added one run in the fourth and another in the fifth off Olson as Kenny Jackson's sacrifice fly made it 5-4, but that was as close as Hofstra would get.
Fleming added to the Panther lead with a solo home run in the sixth, a mammoth shot over the scoreboard in right field off Pride reliever Andrew Barbarino, his 12th of the season.
Panther lefty Aidan Francis took over on the mound to keep the Panthers in front, holding Hofstra scoreless over 2.2 innings while striking out three.
After Dyer came in to record the final out of the eighth inning, he returned in the ninth to close out the game for the Panthers. Though Hofstra's first two batters reached base, Dyer induced a force out at third base, followed by a game-ending double play from Williams to Lind to Asher at first to seal the win.
"I feel like I'm always in that pressure situation and I love it," Dyer said. "It's either sink or swim, and I love having the weight of the team on my shoulders."
"Even until the last pitch, that game could have gone either way," Frady added. "Our bullpen shut them down and did the job tonight."
Dyer's sixth save places him fourth in the CAA, as he lowered his earned-run average to 1.50 in 24.0 innings on the mound this season.
Georgia State and Hofstra continue their series with Saturday's game two at 1 p.m. at the Field at Panthersville.
