Norfolk, Va.- Senior Joey Wood mustered two of just four Panther hits Thursday night as the Georgia State baseball team fell victim to a 13-strikeout effort from the Old Dominion pitching staff in an 8-1 loss at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex to begin the teams' Colonial Athletic Association series.
Three Old Dominion home runs accounted for seven of the eight Monarch scores as Panther starter Justin Malone yielded nine hits over 7.0 innings, but struck out a season-high eight batters of his own in defeat.
The Panthers fell to 22-31 overall and 12-16 in the CAA with the loss, falling a game behind Thursday winner Towson (13-15 CAA) for the sixth and final postseason spot.
GSU can still earn a berth in next week's league tournament but no longer controls its own destiny, likely needing a pair of wins or at least one Towson loss this weekend.
CAA Preseason Player of the Year Josh Wright gave the Monarchs (19-32, 9-19) a 4-0 lead in the second inning as he bounced a grand slam off the left field foul pole with two outs.
Brandon Shelton's two-out solo shot in the fourth inning made it 5-0 and a two-run homer from Josh Tutwiler in the fifth gave the Monarchs a 7-0 cushion.
It would be more than enough as GSU struggled at the plate against Monarchs starter Dean Ali, who struck out 10 over a season-long 6.0 innings and yielded only three hits.
The Panthers finally connected off Ali in the sixth with a double from Caden Bailey and another by Brandon Williams that plated GSU's lone run, making it 7-1.
The Monarchs would add another score on an RBI double in the seventh and two ODU relievers picked up where Ali left off, as Wood's pair of singles accounted for the only other Panther hits on the night in the defeat.
GSU will look to bounce back in the series Friday behind senior pitcher Ben Marshall, who leads the Panther staff in wins and ERA with four complete games.
First pitch at the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex is set for 6 p.m.
