What You Need to Know:
• Georgia State opened its series at Little Rock with a 7-5 victory.
• Joey Roach drove in two runs, including his eighth homer of the season and third in the last two games.
• GSU starter Wayne Wages had a strong start, Bryce Conley finished the game for his second save, with help from a game-saving catch by shortstop Justin Jones.
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. -- Joey Roach drove in two key runs, including his eighth home run of the season and third in the last two games as Georgia State opened its series at Little Rock with a 7-5 victory Friday night at Gary Hogan Field.
Georgia State (15-15, 4-6 Sun Belt) shortstop Justin Jones was 2-for-2 with two RBI, but more importantly, he made a game-saving catch in the bottom of the ninth inning. Down by two runs, Little Rock (13-16, 6-7 Sun Belt) had the bases loaded with two outs, but Jones made a diving stab on a line drive to end the game.
"Road baseball is difficult to win, and a lot of guys really stepped up in the clutch tonight," head coach Greg Frady said. "It was a very hard-fought game, and we beat a really good team at their place. But it is just Game 1, and we'll get ready for tomorrow."
The Trojans took the lead first with two runs in the fourth, but GSU answered immediately with three in the fifth. Jaylen Woullard and Will Kilgore led off with back-to-back singles, and Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ryan Blanton brought home the first run with a sacrifice fly, and with two outs, Roach and Jarrett Hood delivered back-to-back run-scoring singles to put the Panthers ahead 3-2.
After Little Rock tied the game in the sixth on Dalton Thomas' solo homer, GSU again responded right away by manufacturing a run in the seventh. Jones led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, to third on a fly ball and came home on a wild pitch for a 4-3 lead.
Jones brought home an insurance run one inning later with a run-scoring single that made it 5-3.
The Trojans pulled within 5-4 with a run in the eighth, but Roach blasted the first pitch of the ninth inning over the right field fence for a 6-4 advantage. After two outs, the Panthers loaded the bases as Luke Leonard and Woullard drew walks and Will Kilgore was hit by a pitch. Then Jones drew a walk for his second RBI of the game to send the Panthers to the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead.
"We pushed two more across in the ninth inning, and as it turned out, we needed them," Frady said.
GSU starter Wayne Wages (2-3) had a strong outing as he pitched 6.2 innings and allowed three run on seven hits with six strikeouts. Two of his strikeouts came against the Sun Belt's leading hitter, Ryan Scott, who entered the game second in the nation with a .486 average.
After Wages struck out Scott with a runner in scoring position in the seventh for his final out of the night, Bryce Conley came on and pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn his second save.
The series continues with a 3 p.m. ET game Saturday.
