What You Need to Know:
* GSU moved to 3-0 in the Sun Belt with a 7-6,10-inning win over UL Lafayette.
* Matt Rose homered and drove in four, including the winning run with a bases-loaded walk in the 10th.
* Ryan Blanton had three hits, including a leadoff single in the 10th, and scored the winning run.
ATLANTA – Matt Rose homered, drove in four runs and drew a bases-loaded, walk-off walk in the 10th inning to give Georgia State a 7-6 victory over UL Lafayette Friday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
With the win, Georgia State (14-7, 3-0 SBC) remained the only unbeaten team in the Sun Belt Conference. UL Lafayette dropped to 10-8, 3-3 SBC.
Rose belted a two-run double down the left field line in the third inning to give Georgia State a 4-1 lead. In the sixth, he smashed his eighth homer of the season, a solo blast to left, to tie the game at 5-5. That is Rose's eighth homer of the season, tying him for the NCAA lead.
The Panthers trailed 6-5 in the seventh when Will Johnson led off with single, and Ryan Blanton singled to put runners at first and second with one out. Then freshman Justin Jones delivered an opposite-field single to right field to score Johnson with the tying run.
The game remained tied at 6-6 when Blanton led off the 10th with a single and took second base when the right fielder misplayed the ball.
That brought Jones to the plate again, and he laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line. The pitcher fielded the ball and had no play at first, and he was unable to cut down Blanton at third.
UL Lafayette reliever Colton Lee (0-2) intentionally walked Caden Bailey to load the bases for Rose, who worked the walk to bring home Blanton with the winning run.
"Could we have wanted anything better than Matt Rose at the plate?" head coach Greg Frady said. "He walked, but let me tell you, it was one of the best at-bats I've seen from Matt. It was a mature, disciplined at-bat, because he did not swing at any pitches out of the zone.
"Everybody's thinking about Matt Rose's at-bat, but Ryan Blanton got it started, and Justin Jones executed the bunt. That made them walk Caden Bailey and have to pitch to Matt Rose."
Blanton, the current Sun Belt and National Player of the Week, had three hits on the night as well as a highlight-reel, diving catch in center field in the eighth inning.
Georgia State has won three extra-inning games in its last five contests, and in each, Blanton has led off the final inning with a hit and scored the winning run. He has 18 hits in his last 32 at-bats.
Reliever Kevin Burgee (2-0) recorded the final four outs, with two strikeouts, to earn the victory.
"None of that would have happened had Kevin Burgee not come in and kept them scoreless in those crucial situations," Frady said. "When we have won our games, our bullpen has controlled the games in the last three or four innings, and tonight was no different."
The series continues with a 2 p.m. game Saturday.
