MONTGOMERY –
Michael Maginnis and
Matt Ruiz each homered as Georgia State topped Alabama State 6-4 at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex on Tuesday night.
With the win, the Panthers improve to 6-3 on the season and have now won five straight games.
GSU has now hit 19 home runs on the season and were ranked 10
th in the NCAA with 17 prior to the start of the contest.
Georgia State jumped out front with two runs on three hits and an error in the third.
Max Ryerson led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a base-hit by Ruiz, and then scored on another wild pitch that moved Ruiz to second.
Dylan Strickland then reached on a throwing error at third base, and
Will Mize made the Hornets pay with a single to left field that scored Ruiz and increased GSU's lead to 2-0.
Cameron Jones added to the Panther lead in the fourth when he singled to lead off the inning, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout and then scored to make it 3-0.
The score remained that way until Maginnis led off the sixth with his second homer of the season to make it 4-0. Then Ryerson drew a two-out walk to bring on Ruiz, who promptly smashed a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field to make it 6-0.
Ruiz finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk, and
Will Mize went 2-for-3 with one RBI, a walk and a stolen base.
GSU starter
Rafael Acosta allowed no runs on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts in a career-high four innings for the senior right-hander from the Dominican Republic.
Davis Chastain (2-1) allowed just one run in two innings with four strikeouts to earn the win.
Zach Ottinger came on to pitch in the ninth and allowed no runs with one strikeout and induced a game-ending double-play to earn his first save.
Ian Matos homered twice to lead Alabama State (5-4) at the plate. The Hornets managed three runs in the sixth and one run in the eighth to pull within two but Chastain and Ottinger shut the door over the final 1-1/3 innings to preserve the win.
Georgia State travels to Presbyterian for Game One of their weekend series Friday at 4 p.m. The Panthers' next home game is on Tuesday, March 7 against in-state foe Kennesaw State at 4 p.m.
