Newark, Del.- Jake Dyer induced a groundout from Alex Mottle with the bases loaded to seal a 10-8 victory for Georgia State (22-8, 5-4 CAA) over Delaware (15-13, 8-4) in Sunday's Colonial Athletic Association series finale at Bob Hannah Stadium.
Justin Malone (5-0) earned the victory Sunday with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out seven Blue Hens and did not surrender a walk.
Brandon Williams went 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored and Ryan Fleming homered for the eighth time this season to pace GSU offensively.
"Today was of the utmost importance," head coach Greg Frady said. "Before today, we had not yet reached a point in our season where I felt like we really had to win get back on track and today I think our team played with a great resolve and toughness."
The Panthers jumped out in front of the Blue Hens for the third time in as many days after Carter Sackett's two-run double gave GSU a 2-0 lead.
After Delaware cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning, the Panthers tacked on two more with an RBI single from Brandon Williams and an RBI grounder by Drew Shields for a 4-1 advantage.
At 4-2 in the fifth inning, GSU added two more runs when Shields singled home Williams, who had doubled, and Sackett doubled home Shields two batters later.
With the score 7-4 in the eighth, GSU senior Bryan Condotta tripled to lead off the inning and Mark Micowski drove him home with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-4.
Williams and Fleming then teamed up to provide what would be the game winning runs in the ninth inning. Williams led off with a double to left field, his second of the day. Fleming then belted a mammoth shot to right field on a 1-1 count that cleared the scoreboard over the right field fence, his second home run of the series and eighth of the season. That blast provided the Panthers a 10-4 lead.
"Ryan's home run was the difference today," Frady said. "Our team fought from the very beginning to the very end."
The Blue Hens rallied for four runs in the ninth inning in a comeback attempt. Hank Yates singled to right field to score two and cut the deficit to 10-6. Then E.J. Stoltzfus and Dylan Shupe hit back-to-back RBI singles to make it a 10-8 game. Dyer ended the game two batters later by getting Mottle to ground out to short with the bases loaded, earning his fifth save of the season and sealing the win for the Panthers.
"Our team played with a purpose today," Frady continued. "Conference baseball is really tough on the road and people are going to play us hard- Delaware played us very tough over three games. I'm very happy with the result today."
The Panthers return home for a single game Tuesday with Mercer (21-9, 8-6 Atlantic Sun) at the Field at Panthersville at 6 p.m., then resume CAA play with a three game series at James Madison (19-9, 9-5), Friday through Sunday.
