Panthers Fall 8-1 to South Alabama in Series Opener

Baseball 3/19/2014 9:11:00 PM None

Panthers Fall to Georgia Tech 9-4

ATLANTA -- Georgia State fell to Georgia Tech 9-4 Wednesday evening at the GSU Baseball Complex.

The Panthers (10-11) led 2-0 through five innings before Tech (13-8) used a five-run sixth inning to earn the victory.

Georgia State jumped in front with a pair of runs in the first inning. Matt Rose's double to right center brought home David Levy, who was hit by a pitch, and then Chase Raffield singled to score Rose.

But from there, Georgia Tech starter Ben Parr and reliever Zac Ryan retired 18 in a row before Chris Triplett singled with two outs in the seventh.

GSU starter Tyler McClure (1-2) blanked the Jackets for the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. The junior left-hander allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits with three strikeouts and no walks.

"You never want to give up a big inning, but let's not lose sight of the fact that Tyler pitched really well for five innings," GSU head coach Greg Frady said. "He did a good job, and he put us in position to win. When your starter gives you five innings without a run, that's a pretty good job. You'd love for him to give you seven, but give Georgia Tech credit for the big inning.

Triplett's seventh-inning single started a two-out rally for the Panthers as he stole second and then scored when Caden Bailey reached on an error by the third baseman. Greg Bowder followed with a single up the middle to score Bailey from second and pull the Panthers within 6-4.

But Tech answered with three in the top of the eighth to pull away.

Parr (1-0) earned the victory in his first start for Georgia Tech, allowing two runs on three hits with four strikeouts in his five innings.

"We had really good at-bats against him in the first inning, but he really collected himself and put up some zeroes," Frady said.

Georgia State now travels to fifth-ranked UL Lafayette for a Sun Belt Conference series against the league's top team.

"We know we have a great challenge this weekend. I know how difficult they are to play, especially at home, but our focus can't be on Louisiana Lafayette. It has to be on what we do. We have to throw the ball in the strike zone, catch the ball, get good pitches to hit and put good swings on them. It will be a hostile environment with a lot of energy, which should make for three very good baseball games."

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