ATLANTA –
Colin Hynek hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the eighth inning to lift Georgia State (2-0) to a 6-4 victory and clinch their series with Belmont (0-2) at the GSU Baseball Complex on Saturday afternoon.
That is the second straight game that Hynek has homered after hitting a three-run shot on Opening Day on Friday. The junior from Rockmart, Ga. was one of three Panthers to hit a home run as
Jesse Donohoe and
Kaleb Freeman each hit a solo shot in the third and seventh innings respectively.
Donohoe and Freeman also led GSU at the plate with two hits each. Their final stat line saw Freeman go 2-for-2 with one RBI and two walks, and Donahoe going 2-for-3 with one RBI and one walk.
With the score tied 4-4, Donohoe drew a walk to lead off the eighth inning, and then after
Carter Bailey popped up to the catcher on a bunt, Hynek came to the plate and promptly crushed a 0-1 pitch from Trey Maeker (0-1) 372 feet over the wall in left field with a shot that traveled 105 mph off his bat to put the Panthers ahead for good.
Georgia State struck first in the second inning when with two outs and the bases loaded,
Michael Maginnis hit a fly ball to center field that was dropped, allowing two runs to score and give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Belmont cut the deficit to 2-1 on an RBI-groundout, aided by an errant throw on a stolen base attempt before
Jesse Donohoe smashed his 424-foot no-doubter over the wall in right field to make it 3-1 GSU.
The score remained that way until the seventh when
Kaleb Freeman hit his solo shot before Belmont evened the score with three runs on five hits in the eighth, setting up Hynek's heroic blast.
Nick Holbrook (1-0) allowed no runs on two hits with one strikeout over the final 1.2 innings to earn his first collegiate victory out of the bullpen.
Panther starter
Quin McManmon threw for a strong 5.0 innings, allowing only one unearned run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision.
In his first relief appearance since 2024 after missing most of the year due to injury,
Brooks Gorman pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning with one strikeout before running into trouble in the eighth when he allowed three runs on three hits.
The series finale is on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex.
