ATLANTA- Junior Mark Hogan smacked his second home run of the season and freshman Max Schmitz tossed a career-high 7.2 innings but the Georgia State baseball team (7-10) dropped an 8-3 decision to Monmouth (7-6) Tuesday evening at the GSU Baseball Complex.
After a weather delay of nearly an hour in the fifth inning, the Panthers emerged from a 3-0 deficit to pull within one after Hogan's solo shot, but the Hawks added five more runs against an injury-plagued Panther bullpen in the ninth inning to seal the victory.
Schmitz (2-2) allowed three runs in the first three innings then settled down to keep the game close into the eighth, striking out a career-high six batters with no walks.
Drew Shields had a season-high three hits on the day while outfielder Gabe Shivers went 2-for-4 at the plate in his first start of the year.
"I thought Max did an awesome job for the team to put us in position to win," head coach Greg Frady said of his freshman starter, the reigning Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week. "He did a great job of locating pitches and when a guy goes out there and pitches your team into the eighth (inning), you have to say that's a great job."
The Hawks took a two-run lead in the first on a home run from Danny Avella, then made it 3-0 in the third on an RBI double.
With lightning in the area, play was suspended in the fifth inning for 50 minutes. The Panthers had just two hits before the delay- both by Shields- but came out to add seven more hits and push across their three runs.
Shivers led off the sixth with a drag bunt for a base hit and advanced to second on a balk. Shields had his third hit of the day to put runners on the corners, then Shivers scored on a double play to make it 3-1.
Hogan led off the eighth with his pinch-hit home run to right field to make it 3-2. The Panthers pushed runners to second and third in the inning but could not score the tying run.
Then in the ninth, aided by a Panther error that extended the inning, the Hawks were able to score five insurance runs to take an 8-2 lead. Freshman Caleb Gore ended the scoring by making his first career appearance on the mound, striking out the Hawks' Jon Guida.
GSU's Scott Sarratt belted his third double of the season in the bottom of the ninth and Shivers' second hit brought him home to make it 8-3, but it was the final run of the evening.
Monmouth starter Stephen Frey (2-1) earned the win for the Hawks by scattering five hits over 7.0 innings.
The Panthers return to action Wednesday at Mercer (12-5) with a 6 p.m. start time at the Bears' Claude Smith Field.
