ATLANTA- Brandon Williams' 10th inning RBI single scored Shane Hammond to give Georgia State a 2-1 walk-off victory over George Mason in Saturday's regular season finale at the Field at Panthersville, clinching a spot for the Panthers in their third straight Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, beginning Thursday in Wilmington, N.C.
Hammond is one of 15 GSU seniors who were playing in their final home game on Saturday's Senior Day.
Junior Justin Malone struck out a career-high 11 batters over eight innings on the mound for GSU, which finishes the regular season 37-19 overall, 17-13 in CAA play.
"I was just looking for a pitch to put in play and just do anything I could to get that run in," said Williams, one of six Panther juniors, along with Malone, who have now reached the CAA Tournament in each of their first three seasons at GSU. "I just happened to be the guy on deck in the (game-winning) situation."
Head coach Greg Frady takes the team to its fourth postseason appearance in his first five seasons at the helm of the Panthers squad.
"Any time you're trying to clinch a spot in the conference tournament, you have to earn it," said Frady. "It came down to big-time players playing in big-time games and elevating their games, and Brandon certainly played big for us today."
George Mason's lone run in the fifth inning off Malone was the game's only score until the bottom of the eighth, as GSU finally broke through to tie the game off Patriots reliever Sean Cabrera.
Lind drew a one-out walk in the eighth, then moved to third on Williams' first single of the afternoon. After a popup, Carter Sackett singled home Lind to draw the Panthers even.
Both teams then went scoreless in the ninth inning, forcing GSU's fourth extra-inning game of the season.
Panther reliever Jake Dyer (3-0) kept the Patriots off the board again in the top of the tenth inning, setting the stage for the dramatic finish in the bottom of the frame.
Hammond reached base to lead off the tenth as he was hit by Mason reliever Neight Hoffa (0-2), then moved to second on a wild pitch. Lind moved Hammond over to third with a lineout to center field, bringing up Williams. The junior from Marietta drilled Hoffa's 1-1 offering into left field to score Hammond and send the Panther team rushing onto the field in celebration.
"It felt like jubilation and relief," said Frady. "They'd been pitching Brandon away, away, away a lot, then they got that pitch over the plate. I thought it was a great at bat. What a heck of a way to end the regular season."
Dyer earned the win as Malone did not factor into the decision despite a career-high 11 strikeouts over 8.0 innings, allowing just the one run on nine hits. He did not issue a walk.
"I hope the rest of the team can build off this, and we can have a really successful conference tournament," said Malone. "If we have our talent going and doing all the small things right, it can be really great at the end."
Georgia State advances to play Thursday on day one of the four-team CAA Tournament at Brooks Field, hosted by UNC Wilmington. Official seeding and matchups are yet to be determined. The tournament's #1 seed will play the #4 seed in Thursday's opening game at 3 p.m., while the nightcap will feature the #2 and #3 seeds at 7 p.m.
All postseason games will be broadcast by WRAS-FM 88.5 and streamed live on the station's web site.
