ATLANTA -- Georgia State rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning before falling in the 11th as Louisiana evened the Sun Belt Conference series with a 6-4 victory Saturday at the GSU Baseball Complex. The teams played extra innings for the second straight day after the Panthers won 6-5 in 12 on Friday, and in both games the winning runs were scored on a squeeze bunt.
The series will be decided with a 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Georgia State (21-21, 7-12) outhit the Ragin' Cajuns, 12-6, but left 15 men on base.
The Panthers led 3-1 until the eighth inning, when Louisiana (25-20, 11-9) took the lead with three runs.
Brandon Bell led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice. With two outs, pinch hitter Kalen Puckett singled to third base to put runners at first and third, and then Luke Leonard's sharp ground ball up the middle deflected off the pitcher for base hit, allowing Bell to score the tying run.
After a scoreless 10th, the Cajuns put runners at first and second with no outs in the 11th on a single and an errant throw on a sacrifice attempt. After another bunt moved the runners to second and third, Jonathan Windham laid down another sacrifice bunt, and both runners scored.
Georgia State had one last chance in the bottom of the 10th. After Jack Thompson drew a one-out walk, Will Kilgore smacked a double to the gap in right center, but Thompson was thrown out at the plate on the relay throw from the second baseman.
Leonard, the Panther center fielder, also drove in GSU's first run with an RBI-double in the fourth inning. Then he teamed with Romero Greer to execute a double steal, coming home to give GSU a 2-1 lead after four.
The Panthers added to their lead in the fifth on Kilgore's run-scoring double but left the bases loaded in that inning.
Georgia State starter Jake Rogers was outstanding but did not figure in the decision. He allowed just one run on two hits over seven innings with three strikeouts and five walks.
Louisiana closer Logan Stoelke (3-0) pitched the final four innings to earn the victory.
