Baseball 3/8/2014 5:26:00 PM None

Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 11-10 Loss to Xavier

ATLANTA -- Georgia State rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth and had the winning run on base with two outs before falling 11-10 to Xavier Saturday at the GSU Baseball Complex.

The Panthers dropped their third straight to fall to 6-8 on the season. Xavier improved to 7-4.

With GSU trailing 11-7 and one out in the ninth, David Mayo started the Panthers' rally with a single. Greg Bowder was hit by pitch and Chad Prain drew a walk to load the bases for Caden Bailey, who reached on a fielder's choice that forced Prain at second but brought home Mayo. Matt Rose delivered a two-out single up the middle to drive in Bowder, and then Nic Wilson's single to center field scored Bailey to pull the Panthers within 11-10 with the tying run at third and the potential winning run on first.

But reliever Daniel Przeniczny, who came in to face Wilson, got Chase Raffield to fly out to left for the final out.

Georgia State jumped to a 6-0 lead in the second inning. Mayo had an RBI-single, Bowder drove in two with a double to right center, Prain plated two more with a single, and Bailey added a sacrifice fly.

Xavier answered with five runs in the third off GSU starter Andrew Fessler, who did not figure in the decision. The Musketeers actually had a chance to tie the game when Andrew Jernigan came up with the bases loaded and cleared the left field fence with what should have been a grand slam, but Jernigan passed Stephen Schoettmer on the bases and was called out. Still, Xavier pulled within 6-5.

Jernigan gave the Musketeers the lead two innings later with a three-run homer as Xavier moved ahead 8-5. The Musketeers led 9-7 before adding two insurance runs in the top of the ninth that proved to be crucial.

Xavier starter Scott Klever (2-1) allowed seven run on eight hits in seven innings to earn the victory, and Przeniczny picked up his third save.

Ben Burns (1-1) took the loss for GSU.

"We battled really hard at the end. I think if you told me going into that inning that we would put the winning run on base with a chance to win it, you would take that," GSU head coach Greg Frady said. "There were a lot of quality, hard-nosed at-bats, and I'm proud of the team for that.

"Our job is to win the game and we didn't do that, but I think we we saw some really good things going on within the team, and there are some areas that we have to make adjustments. We can't continue to keep repeating ourselves with some of the mistakes we're making in the field, and I wish we walked walked fewer and hit fewer. Those are things we have to keep working on."

The series concludes with a 1 p.m. game Sunday at the GSU Baseball Complex.

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Players Mentioned

#7 Caden Bailey: INF; 5' 10"; Junior; L/R

#34 Greg Bowder: SS/2B; 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior; R/R

#21 Ben Burns: LHP; 6' 2"; Senior; L/L

#3 Andrew Fessler: LHP; 6' 0"; Senior; L/L

#1 David Mayo: RHP/IF; 5' 10"; Freshman; R/R

#9 Chad Prain: INF; 5' 10"; Senior; R/R

#32 Chase Raffield: OF; 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior; L/R

#5 Matt Rose: RHP/IF; 6' 3"; Sophomore; R/R

#22 Nic Wilson: INF; 6' 6"; Senior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#7 Caden Bailey
: 5' 10"; Junior; L/R
: INF

#34 Greg Bowder
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior; R/R
: SS/2B

#21 Ben Burns
: 6' 2"; Senior; L/L
: LHP

#3 Andrew Fessler
: 6' 0"; Senior; L/L
: LHP

#1 David Mayo
: 5' 10"; Freshman; R/R
: RHP/IF

#9 Chad Prain
: 5' 10"; Senior; R/R
: INF

#32 Chase Raffield
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Senior; L/R
: OF

#5 Matt Rose
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; R/R
: RHP/IF

#22 Nic Wilson
: 6' 6"; Senior; R/R
: INF