What You Need to Know:
* David Levy drove in a career-high four runs as GSU rallied from a 4-1 deficit for a 10-5 win over Texas State.
* Freshman shortstop Justin Jones hit his first home run, a two-run shot in the Panthers' six-run fifth inning.
* GSU evened the series and improved to 14-7 in the Sun Belt.
ATLANTA -- Senior David Levy drove in a career-high four runs and freshman Justin Jones hit his first career home run to power Georgia State to a 10-5 victory over Texas State Saturday at the GSU Baseball Complex. The Panthers snapped a four-game losing streak and evened the series with the Bobcats.
Georgia State (27-19, 14-7) is in second place in the Sun Belt standings behind South Alabama, which also won today.
The Panthers rallied from a 4-1 deficit with a six-run fifth inning. GSU entered the inning down 4-2, and Joey Roach started the scoring with an RBI-single to bring home Matt Rose, who led off with single and moved to second on an error. After Jack Thompson singled, Cam Sperry tied the game with a single up the middle.
After two outs, Levy delivered a two-run single up the middle to put the Panthers ahead 6-4 and chase Texas State starter Scott Grist (3-5). Then Jones greeted reliever Pasquale Mazzoccoli with his homer to left field on a 1-1 count, giving GSU an 8-4 lead it would not relinquish.
"Our two middle infielders played great today," head coach Greg Frady said. "Justin Jones hit his first home run, David Levy had four RBIs and he had, in my opinion, the crucial at-bat of the game with his two-out RBIs to give us the lead.
"I can't say enough about the team and how good we are when we show up and bring it. Last night was not a representative of who we are. Today was much more this team's caliber, and I'm happy to win."
Kenny Anderson (5-2) won his second straight decision and earned his team-leading fifth victory for the Panthers as he pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits. All four runs came in the third inning on back-to-back homers by Granger Studdard, who hit a three-run homer, and Tanner Hill.
"Toughness starts with seniors," Frady said. "Kenny had a really rough fourth inning, but he battled and minimized the damage. For Kenny to not only get out of that inning but put up three more scoreless innings after that really gave us a chance to settle down, score some runs and take the lead."
Levy, the veteran second baseman, also had a run-scoring single in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Sophomore Trae Sweeting, filling in for injured center fielder Ryan Blanton, had two hits and scored three runs, including a steal of home on a double steal.
Thompson, another freshman, added two hits and an RBI, while Rose, Roach and Caden Bailey had two hits each as the Panthers totalled 16 on the day.
"I'm proud of these guys. They answered the bell. This looked like Georgia State baseball today."
The series concludes with a noon game Sunday.
