ATLANTA – Georgia State's bats finally came alive in the late innings, but it wasn't enough as the Panthers dropped Game 2 of the weekend series to Louisiana, 8-3, at the GSU Baseball Complex on Saturday afternoon.

With the Panthers (24-24, 9-14 Sun Belt) held scoreless through five frames, Jesse Donohoe provided the breakthrough in the bottom of the sixth, crushing his 13th home run of the season—a solo shot to right—to end the drought and cut the Ragin' Cajuns' lead to 7-1. Georgia State added another in the seventh when Cooper Milford hustled home on an error. In the eighth, Michael Maginnis ripped a RBI double down the left-field line to chase Louisiana's starter from the game and cut the deficit to 8-3.

On the mound, Jake Hembree (L, 1-2) struggled to find the zone early, issuing four walks and allowing six runs in four innings of work, while Tysen Benford battled through five frames of two-earned-run ball with a season-high 10 strikeouts.

Louisiana (24-24, 14-9) turned the game with a three-run fourth inning, capped by Caleb Stelly's two-run homer and Luke Yuhasz's solo shot, and added three more runs in the fifth to build a 7-0 lead. Andrew Herrmann (W, 3-3) scattered eight hits over seven innings, allowing just three runs while striking out six.

Georgia State will look to avoid the sweep in Sunday's Game 3, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at the GSU Baseball Complex.

From head coach Brad Stromdahl's post-game, "There is a sense of urgency that comes with every pitch, every at-bat. We're gonna fight until the end. We just have not executed well enough and ultimately that's what this is about. We still have seven conference game left, which is a lot of baseball. Sunday is a new day and hopefully Ross Norman can be the guy that executes the best."

GAME NOTES
» Panthers pitchers combined to strike out 14 Louisiana hitters.