St. Petersburg, Fla.--Georgia State freshman starting pitcher Garrett Ford took a shutout into the seventh inning before Boston College managed a 2-0 victory Saturday at Al Lang Stadium to even the series at one game apiece.
Ford, the left-hander from Loganville, Ga., allowed just one run on five hits while walking one, but BC (2-6) starter John Gorman and relievers Jeff Burke, Nate Bayuk and Tyler Hinchcliffe combined to shut out the Panthers (6-5) on three hits.Tom Sauter drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning.
"Garrett Ford was outstanding," said GSU head coach Greg Frady of his rookie starter who needed just 72 pitches to get into the seventh inning. "What a great pitching performance for any age, but for him to be a freshman, he showed a lot of maturity tonight. I couldn't be happier with his outing.
"We are a good offensive team, but we ran into a couple of guys throwing well tonight," Frady continued. "We had a couple of opportunities but we just didn't get the big hit tonight. That's baseball."
In a scoreless game, Boston College pushed across the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Tom Bourdon and Chris Shaw led off with back-to-back singles. Logan Hoggarth hit a sharp ground ball to third to force Shaw at second, but Hoggarth just beat the throw at third to give the Eagles runners at first and third with one out. Sauter's fly ball to center field plated Bourdon with the game's first run.
After Ford walked Tom Ferrick -- not only Ford's lone walk of the night but the only batter to which he threw three balls-Jerry Stuckey came on and retired Jimmy Dowdell on a ground ball.
Georgia State had a golden opportunity in the top of the eighth as the Panthers loaded the bases with no outs on two walks and an error. Left-hander Nate Bayuk came on in relief and got pinch hitter Greg Bowder to pop up to shallow right, not deep enough to score the run. Then Caden Bailey struck out and Drew Shields popped up to end the inning.
The Eagles added an insurance run in the eighth as Jimmy Cronin led off with a double to left center and then scored when Stuckey threw wildly to third, trying to retire him on a bunt.
Gorman (1-1) scattered three hits over seven shutout innings for his first victory of the season, and Hinchcliffe struck out the side in the ninth to earn his second save.
Ford faced the minimum through five innings before Boston College threatened in the sixth. The Eagles put runners at first and third and one out, but after Ford induced a popup by Gabriel Hernandez, Bailey made a nice play on a high chopper to short to end the inning.
Bailey led off the game with an opposite field single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. Hogan and Triplett managed the only other hits for the Panthers, who hit into two double plays.
"I think are guys are playing hard," said Frady, whose Panthers opened the series with a 5-4 victory. "For some young guys, things get going a little fast, and they become a little too aggressive and at times, lack some discipline. All of that will get better with time.
"As a whole, I'm happy about the game and the way that we played, but I'm disappointed that we didn't get a positive result. Tomorrow we will come back out and try to win the series."
The two teams conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m. at Al Lang Stadium.
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