ATLANTA?Georgia State head coach Greg Frady has told everyone that would listen that the Georgia State baseball program is one that's on the rise. Tonight, the Panthers arrived.
Chase Childers had three RBIs and Adam Bowling threw four shutout innings of relief as the Georgia State baseball team stunned #15 Georgia Tech 9-5 tonight at Russ Chandler Stadium, their seventh win all-time against the Yellow Jackets.
“I'm going to enjoy this moment,” said Georgia State head coach Greg Frady. “Georgia Tech is a good team and a good program, but we're a good team with a rising program as well. Georgia Tech played a good game, but we outplayed them in a few aspects of the game tonight and came away with a win.”
The Panthers (3-4) jumped on the board in the first on a Childers solo homer over the wall in right-center. Tech (3-4) answered back with four in the bottom half of the frame, thanks in part to a grounder up the middle that bounced off the bag at second and went for a double. Instead of two outs in the inning, a run scored and two runners ended up in scoring position, which the Yellow Jackets cashed in.
State responded with five runs in the top of the second to regain a lead they would never relinquish. Sophomore Matt Van Horn's sacrifice fly to left plated senior Aeden McQueary to for the first run of the inning. With two out in the inning and with runners on the corners, sophomore Michael McCree laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line, reaching with a single and scoring Luke Gordon. After a wild pitch, Childers doubled into the alley in right-center to score a pair and give the Panthers a 5-4 advantage. After Jean-Michel Rochon-Salvas singled, Charlie Pelt's single up the middle sent Childers homeward to give State a 6-4 lead.
The Panthers added to their tally with two more in the fourth. A bunt single by Rochon-Salvas and a double down the left field line by Pelt put a pair of runners in scoring position for the Panthers with nobody out. State would take advantage, as a sac fly by McQueary scored Rochon-Salvas and a single back through the box by Gordon plated Pelt to make it 8-4.
Georgia Tech added a run in the fourth to cut the margin to 8-5. Tech chased Panthers starter Jeramy Compton in the fifth inning after 95 pitches. With two men on, Adam Bowling came on in relief to shut the door on the Yellow Jackets in the frame, getting a fielder's choice, a fly out, and a second fielder's choice to retire Georgia Tech with no damage done.
The Panthers responded once again in the sixth with another run. Rochon-Salvas led off with his third hit of the game, then after advancing to second, scored on a single back up the middle by McQueary.
Down 9-5, Georgia Tech threatened in the sixth but Bowling left two men stranded. But in the seventh, Tech threatened again, putting two men on to start the inning. Again, Bowling got out of the jam, not allowing a run to cross the plate. Bowling retired the side in order in the eighth.
With three outs left for the Panthers to get, a leadoff walk put a runner on for the Yellow Jackets, and Coach Frady made the move to junior Kevin Dooley out of the bullpen. Dooley was dominant in the ninth, striking out Matt Wieters and getting a double play off the bat of Wally Crancer to give the Panthers their seventh win all-time over the Yellow Jackets.
“We had a good starting performance by Jeramy,” said Bowling (1-0). “Our bats coming in and getting some runs across early helped that.”
Bowling used the anger of letting runners get on help him get through the tough phases of his relief outing. “I think that I'm so used to coming in and staying in the stretch that I never work from the wind-up,” Bowling said. “I think a couple of times I ended up letting guys on just so I could get angry and work out of the stretch.”
While Childers had three RBIs, Rochon-Salvas had three hits and two runs scored. Seven batters had hits for the Panthers, with McQueary also getting three hits with two RBIs. Six different batters had RBIs for State in the victorious effort.
The Panthers will look to bring their record up to .500 for the first time this season when they host Indiana State for a four-game set this weekend. First pitch at The Field is set for 4:00 p.m.
