ATLANTA - Two costly Georgia State errors led to nine Georgia Tech runs in the first two innings on Tuesday night as the Yellow Jackets defeated the Panthers 14-3 at The Field at Panthersville.
Georgia Tech, ranked No. 2 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, extended its winning streak to eight games, improving to 22-2 on the season. Georgia State fell to 14-11 with the loss.
"We walked too many batters tonight," commented a disappointed head coach Greg Frady after the game. "We did not play well defensively and it cost us. Georgia Tech has a very good team, so I don't want to take anything away from them. They have a good team and an excellent organization, but we didn't play well enough tonight to have the type of game that we wanted and for that reason, I am disappointed."
Sophomore Nick Squeglia (2-1) quickly recorded two outs in the first inning, but an error by sophomore Brandon Williams allowed the inning to continue. The Yellow Jackets took advantage and plated two runs to take an early 2-0 lead.
Georgia Tech once again took advantage of a Panther miscue in the top of the second. With one out, Brandon Thomas reached on an error by senior Carl Moniz. The Yellow Jackets used that to extend the inning, scoring seven runs on four hits to take a 9-0 lead.
After winning his first six career decisions, Squeglia earned his first loss, going 1.2 innings, allowing seven runs, only two of which were earned. He allowed just two hits, but gave up five walks.
Junior Theo Asher relieved Squeglia, going 1.2 innings, allowing five hits and three runs.
Juniors Jeremy Gazerro and Wes Grant followed, holding the Yellow Jackets to just two hits entering the ninth inning.
The Panthers got on the board in the fourth. Junior Rob Lind singled home Williams, who had doubled earlier in the inning to give State its first run of the game.
Junior Carter Sackett followed with a two-run home run to left, as State cut the deficit to seven.
Senior Bradley Logan extended his streak of games reaching safely to 41, dating back to May 1st of last season. Logan walked in the first to extend the streak.
Tech added a pair of two-run home runs in the ninth.
Mark Micowski and Rob Lind each had two hits to lead the Panthers.
Mark Pope (3-0) earned the win after holding the Panthers to just seven hits, pitching a career-high 7.0 innings to go along with a career-high 11 strikeouts.
Tony Plagman went 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBIs to lead the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia State will return to the road and CAA play on Friday afternoon at Towson. The Panthers will face the Tigers at 3 p.m. on Friday, followed by 1 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday.
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Live stats for all games can be found by visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com.
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