ATLANTA – Eight Panthers combined for 13 hits to back a strong start from Caleb White and lead Georgia State to a 9-2 victory over South Alabama in their Sun Belt Opener at the GSU Baseball Complex on Friday night.

The win gave Georgia State (13-6, 1-0 Sun Belt) their sixth straight victory in Sun Belt Openers.  At 13-6, they are off to their best 19-game start to a season since 2011 when current head coach Brad Stromdahl was an assistant on that Panther squad.

A senior from Van, Texas, Caleb White pitched six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts, bringing his season total to 38.  The right-handed pitcher entered the game ranked second in the Sun Belt and tied for 38^th in the nation in strikeouts on the year.

Jesse Donohoe went 3-for-4 with one walk to lead the Panthers at the plate.  Kaleb Freeman and Jae Williams each went 2-for-4 with one RBI.  John Beverley also went 2-for-4, and Carter Bailey and Andon Lewis drove in two runs each.  Bailey hit a home run that traveled 411 feet over the wall in left center field in the fourth inning and also made two leaping catches, one in the fifth and  one in the seventh, to snag a pair of line drives over his head and rob South Alabama (10-7, 0-1 Sun Belt) of two base-hits.

With one out and the score tied 0-0 in the third, Jae Williams hit the first pitch he saw past a diving center fielder for a double that gave GSU their first hit of the game and scored on a base-hit by Kaleb Freeman to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

Carter Bailey added to the Panther lead with leadoff his solo home run in the fourth, and then Jesse Donohoe delivered a base-hit up the middle and William Maginnis walked, putting runners on first and second.  Then, after an infield fly to second, Andon Lewis came to the plate and hit a 0-1 pitch he faced from Jaguar starter Zach Stevens (1-2) through a diving left fielder to the wall for a triple that scored Donohoe and Maginnis to make it 4-0.  Lewis would get tagged out at home on a fielder's choice by John Beverley, who would then steal second and score on a base-hit by Jae Williams to make it 5-0.

South Alabama capitalized on two walks and a wild pitch to score two runs on one hit in the top of the seventh, but GSU responded with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the inning. 

Freeman led off the seventh with a double to right field, advanced to third on an infield single by Michael Maginnis, and scored on a fielder's choice by Bailey to make it 6-2. 

A base-hit by Donohoe moved Bailey to second before an errant throw by the catcher on a double-steal riccocheted off a sliding Donohoe into left field, allowing Bailey to score and Donohoe to reach third.  William Maginnis then drove Donohoe home with a double to left field to make it 8-2 Panthers.

One more run would score for GSU in the eighth inning on a balk with runners on first and third.

Tysen Benford finished the game with 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits with one walk and five strikeouts to earn his second save.

Game Two has been moved to 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 15 at the GSU Baseball Complex