Baseball 4/22/2014 9:56:00 PM None

Panthers Pound Oglethorpe 18-2

ATLANTA -- Garrett Ford pitched five scoreless innings and Chad Prain and Austin Parrish drove in three runs each as Georgia State downed Oglethorpe 18-2 Tuesday at the GSU Baseball Complex.

Chase Raffield collected his Sun Belt Conference-leading 46th run batted in with a fourth inning single that extended his hitting streak to 15 games. He has reached base safely in 22 straight games.

Ford (1-1), the sophomore left-hander, allowed just two hits in his five innings before turning it over to the bullpen as Connor Stanley, Michael Lelko and Alex Prescott finished the game.

Fourteen different players accounted for Georgia State's (18-23) 18 hits, and 12 Panthers drove in runs. Georgia State had three triples in the game, including back-to-back triples to the right field corner by Zach Moon and Trae Sweeting, who had three hits and two RBI on the night.

"Today was just fun because everyone was focused and we played all three phases of the game really well," said GSU head coach Greg Frady. "Garrett Ford pitched a really outstanding game, all our relievers did a good job, and we played good defense. And of course we put up some hits and scored some runs.

"We played with a lot of life and energy, and I think everybody valued the opportunity to play."

With the Panthers leading 15-1, Georgia State's senior pitchers batted in the eighth inning, all making the first plate appearances of their careers. Andrew Fessler led off with a single up in the middle, reached second on Hunter Cash's fielder's choice and scored on an RBI-groundout by Aidan McLaughlin. Cash came around to score on Prain's triple.

Patrick Kuklick hit a solo homer for Oglethorpe (17-23) in the seventh inning, and Spencer Transue tripled in the eighth and scored the Stormy Petrels' second run.

Georgia State's homestand continues with a Wednesday game against Savannah State. First pitch is 5 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex.

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