Atlanta, GA – Contributed – Arkansas State (16-7, 3-2 SBC) capitalized with discipline at the plate late in the game to defeat Georgia State (12-12, 1-4 SBC) Saturday afternoon at GSU Baseball Complex.
A-State sounded off in the second inning, with the first two batters taking first on hit-by-pitches. Runners advanced on a ball past the catcher, then Raul Torres drove them both home with a ball into the left-center gap.
A trio of two-out walks in the fourth inning gave Arkansas State the opportunity to score but were unable to capitalize with the bases loaded.
A homerun for Georgia State evened the score at two in the bottom of the third. Jack Nelson tossed 4.2 innings for the Red Wolves, with an RBI single adding another run for GSU in the bottom of the fifth for the 3-2 lead.
A-State threatened in the sixth with two runners on but couldn’t plate either. Ryan Ashford entered in the bottom of the sixth to take care of the final out. The top of the seventh saw all nine batters make a plate appearance, with four runs scoring off a Cason Campbell two-RBI single, an RBI walk from Raul Torres, and a sac fly from Kaden Amundson. GSU scored one in the bottom of the inning with A-State holding the 6-4 lead.
The eighth inning was even more active, with the first three batters knocking singles to load the bases. An RBI-walk and RBI-HBP followed as well as a wild pitch for three Red Wolf runs. Joey McLaughlin III walked to reload the bases, and another walk and hit-by-pitch scored two more, all before the first out was recorded. Lane Walton scored McLaughlin on a sac fly for the sixth run of the inning, with the Panthers knocking a solo homer taking the score to 12-5 entering the final frame.
A sac-fly added one more run for A-State in the top of the ninth, and Jelle van der Leile entered to take care of the final three outs.
Win: Ryan Ashford (3-0)
Loss: Brian Crooms (3-2)
UP NEXT
A-State faces Georgia State Sunday afternoon, March 22, for the rubber match with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. CST