Hempstead, N.Y.- Senior Landon Bennett and three other Panthers belted two hits apiece as the Georgia State baseball team took a 3-1 lead into the final innings Sunday, but Hofstra batted around in the eighth inning and scored four times en route to a 5-3 victory for the series sweep at University Field.
Panthers starting pitcher Max Schmitz surrendered only one run on three hits over six strong innings, leaving with the Panthers in front.
After tying the game in the third, GSU went ahead with two runs in the sixth, making it 3-1 after an RBI double by Greg Bowder.
The Pride connected on four runs in the eighth however, reclaiming the lead for good on Matt Reistetter's two-run triple.
Sunday marked the second time in the series Hofstra was able to post an eighth-inning rally.
Panther catcher Scott Sarratt picked up right where he left off from game two, throwing out Hofstra's only steal attempt of the game in the first inning after throwing out five the day before.
Hofstra would take a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Kenny Jackson's double scored Jared Hammer.
The Panthers leveled the score in the next inning as Joel Van Asch's groundout scored Drew Shields from third base, making it 1-1.
Schmitz would then keep the Pride scoreless over the next four innings, allowing just two hits before the seventh inning.
The Panthers struck for two scores on a pair of hits in the sixth inning with the help of a trio of Pride errors.
Brandon Williams began the sixth by reaching second base on a fielding and throwing error, then scored two batters later on Landon Bennett's RBI base-knock into center field that escaped a Hofstra outfielder, allowing Bennett to second. Greg Bowder doubled two batters later to score Bennett as the Panthers took a 3-1 lead.
GSU was able to pitch around a jam in the seventh. T.J. Thomas doubled to start the inning for Hofstra, then reliever Jerry Stuckey entered to pitch after Schmitz walked Kevin Flynn. Stuckey yielded one hit but got two ground balls and a flyout to escape the jam and preserve the Panthers' two-run lead.
With GSU again facing a jam in the eighth, Aidan McLaughlin came on with one out and runners on first and second. McLaughlin picked up one out, but then Kevin Flynn singled into center to score a run. Reistetter followed with a triple into the right field corner that scored both runners to push Hofstra into the lead, 4-3. Dalton Rouleau added an RBI single to extend the lead to 5-3 before Panther reliever Jake Dyer ended the damage.
GSU threatened but could not tie the game in the ninth. The Panthers put runners on the corners with nobody out as Shields pushed an infield single through the right side and Kody Adams drove him to third with a single up the middle. After Van Asch struck out, Brandon Williams ripped a potential game-tying shot past the third baseman that was called foul. In a bizarre twist, Williams then struck out in the at-bat and was called for interference to end the game as the Hofstra catcher popped up to try and catch a stealing Adams.
Bryan Verbitsky earned his second save of the year for the Pride as GSU's road struggles continued. The Panthers have won just twice this season away from home.
Adams, Bennett, Williams and Gabe Shivers knocked two hits apiece in the losing effort.
Bowder and Van Asch led the Panthers over the three-game series with two RBIs apiece while Caden Bailey had five hits.
