Williamsburg, Va.- Keyed by Rob Lind and Brandon Williams, Georgia State scored five runs in the first inning Saturday and never looked back, winning a pivotal Colonial Athletic Association series at William & Mary with an 11-6 game three win at Plumeri Park.
Georgia State improved to 35-17 overall, 15-12 in CAA play, moving a game ahead of William & Mary (24-27, 14-13) in the race for the CAA's four postseason spots. The league's top four teams will qualify for the season-ending conference tournament, May 26-28 at UNC Wilmington's Brooks Field. The Panthers entered Saturday in a tie for fifth place in the CAA, trailing Towson by a half-game.
The 35th win of the season ties a Georgia State record for regular season victories.
The Panthers began Saturday's game with six singles and a walk in the first inning, chasing starter Matt Wainman (4-3) from the game in building a 5-0 advantage. GSU then added four more runs in the second inning and coasted to the victory, finishing the day with 16 total hits on the day, three each by Lind and Williams.
Justin Malone earned the victory on the mound for the Panthers to improve to 7-1.
"We knew that winner of the game today was going to be in a really strong position to secure a spot in Wilmington," head coach Greg Frady said. "We had to have this game today and our guys responded. It was monumental."
Lind began the scoring for the Panthers in the first inning, singling home Brett Maxwell from second for a 1-0 Panther lead. Williams, Ryan Fleming and Theo Asher would all add RBI singles for GSU in the opening frame, while Shane Hammond contributed a run-scoring sacrifice bunt as the Panthers opened up a 5-0 advantage, ending Wainman's afternoon after just two-thirds of an inning.
The Panthers didn't waste any time adding to their cushion in the second, plating four runs off Tribe reliever Matt Davenport in the second. Maxwell got things started with a double to left field, then scored on another RBI single from Williams. After Drew Shields walked, Fleming added his second RBI single of the day, scoring Williams for a 7-0 GSU lead. Theo Asher then doubled into the left field corner, plating both Shields and Fleming, making it 9-0.
"We made a little bit of a lineup shift today to take the pressure off of some guys," Frady added. "Whatever the lineup was today, it certainly worked, as our guys came out with a sense of urgency to score runs and we did it."
The Tribe pushed two runs across on Malone in the second inning to make it 9-2.
GSU scored their tenth run of the game in the fourth inning as Shields grounded into a double play that scored Lind from third.
William & Mary managed one run in each of the fourth and fifth innings to pull within six at 10-4, but Nick Squeglia kept the lead intact with two scoreless innings in relief of Malone, striking out two batters.
Hammond then doubled home Shields in the seventh inning as the Panthers pushed their 11th and final run of the day across the plate.
After the Tribe scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning on a sac fly and an RBI single, Panther junior Jake Dyer entered to hold the 11-6 score. Dyer recorded the game's final five outs to give GSU their third road series victory in five tries this season in CAA play.
Georgia State turned four double plays in the win, while Panther pitchers combined to strand an additional eight Tribe runners on the basepaths.
The Panthers return to action with their final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. game at Mercer. GSU has defeated the Bears twice so far this season.
Georgia State then hosts their final regular season series against George Mason, Thursday through Saturday and the Field at Panthersville. It will be senior weekend for the Panthers' 15 senior players, with a ceremony before Saturday's 1 p.m. regular season finale.
