Panthers Fall 3-0 at Kennesaw State

Baseball None

Panthers Fall 3-0 at Kennesaw State

Kennesaw, Ga. -- Georgia State fell at Kennesaw State 3-0 on a cold night at Stillwell Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga., in the first of three meetings between the two schools this season.

The Panthers (6-6) wasted a strong start on the mound by junior left-hander Tyler McClure (1-1), who allowed just one run on three hits. He struck out eight and walked none in 5.2 innings but was the tough luck loser.

The game was scoreless when Jacob Bruce led off the bottom of the sixth with a single off McClure. Bruce stole second with out, but McClure got Bo Way to fly out to center field. Right-hander Jerry Stuckey came on to face Brennan Morgan, who doubled to right field to bring home Bruce with the game's first run.

The Owls (8-6) pushed across two more runs in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Kal Simmons and a sacrifice fly by Bruce to extend their lead to 3-0.

Georgia State managed just six hits in the game, and four KSU pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts.

"Tyler McClure did a tremendous job, maybe the best start of the year for our team," GSU head coach Greg Frady said. "He put us in position to win the game. But I told the team, Tyler pitched fantastic and we played some pretty good defense to support him, but the game is in three phrases. You can pitch well and play good defense, but if you don't score, you do't win the game."

The Panthers' best chance to score was in the sixth, when Caden Bailey led off with a double  and Chris Triplett singled to put runners at first and third with no outs. But reliever Chris Erwin struck out Nic Wilson and Chase Raffield, and the Justin McCalvin came on and got Greg Bowder to ground out to end threat.

"We are the same team baseball team we were earlier in the year when we were getting the big two-out RBI and getting the bases clearing double," Frady said. "We're the same team. We've just got to get back to playing the type of baseball we know we can and then find a way to grind it out. There's a difference in playing good and playing winning baseball, and we've got to do a better job."

KSU starter Will Lowman pitched just 2.2 innings before giving way to Erwin. McCalvin (2-1) earned the win, and James Connell finished the game with two scoreless innings for his first save.

Georgia State and Kennesaw State will play again on April 15 and May 7, both at the GSU Baseball Complex.

Print Friendly Version