ATLANTA –
Cole Roberts delivered a strong start and
William Maginnis and
Colin Hynek homered to lead Georgia State to their 8-4 series clinching victory over Western Carolina at the GSU Baseball Complex on Sunday afternoon.
A junior transfer from Las Vegas, Nevada, Roberts pitched a career-high 8.0 innings with nine strikeouts, also a career-high, allowing just two runs on five hits. He and Panther reliever
Tysen Benford combined for 10 strikeouts and allowed no walks.
William Maginnis went 2-for-3 with two RBI's, including his solo shot on a line drive over the wall in left field that gave Georgia State (12-4) an early 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Colin Hynek homered for the third time this weekend after hitting two home runs against Western Carolina (7-9) on Saturday. His three-run blast came in the seventh inning when he crushed a 105 mph blast on a full count that traveled 410 feet over the wall in center field.
Kaleb Freeman also went 2-for-3 with one walk, and
John Beverley drove in two runs in the eighth inning.
After Western Carolina tied the game 1-1 on a wild pitch with runners on second and third in the fifth inning,
Jae Williams led off the sixth inning with a base-hit to right field, advanced to second on a base-hit by
Kaleb Freeman, advanced to third on a walk, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by
Carter Bailey to give GSU a 2-1 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
That lead extended to 5-1 on Hynek's three-run blast in the seventh, and then to 8-1 with three runs on two hits and an error in the eighth. Bailey drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, stole second on a strikeout by
Jesse Donohoe, and then scored on a base-hit by
William Maginnis, who would then advance to second as
CJ Blackwell reached on an error. Both runners would then advance to second and third on a double-steal and score on a base-hit by
John Beverley to make it 8-1.
WCU rallied with three runs on five hits in the ninth, but would get no closer.
Georgia State travels to midtown to face Georgia Tech on Tuesday, March 11 at Russ Chandler Stadium. First pitch is at 6 p.m.