Baseball 5/13/2014 9:15:00 PM None

Trio of Homers Not Enough as Panthers Fall 6-5 at Mercer

Macon, Ga. -- Georgia State got home runs from its power trio of Nic Wilson, Chase Raffield and Matt Rose, but Mercer held on for a 6-5 win Tuesday at Claude Smith Field.

With his 18th homer of the season, Wilson is now tied for second in the nation, trailing only NCAA leader A.J. Reed of Kentucky (21).

Georgia State (24-29) and Mercer (37-13) split their annual series, with each team winning a one-run game on its home field. GSU earned an 8-7, walkoff win in Atlanta on April 9.

The Panthers trailed 6-2 when Raffield led off the eighth inning with a double down the first base line. That brought Wilson to the plate, and the 6-6 senior crushed a 1-2 pitch from reliever Dimitri Kourtis over the center field fence, cutting the Panthers deficit in half.

With one out, Rose smacked his 11th homer of the season to left center, pulling GSU within 6-5.

Caden Bailey followed with a walk, but Kourtis induced an inning-ending double play to prevent further damage.

In the ninth, after Mercer third baseman Chesny Young robbed Trae Sweeting of a hit with a diving stop, Ryan Blanton reached on a pinch-hit single. With two outs and Blanton at first, Kourtis struck out Raffield to end the game.

Raffield, the senior right fielder, had three hits on the night, including a solo home run in the first inning, his 14th of the year. He added an RBI-single in fifth inning that brought the Panthers within 4-2, but Mercer answered with solo homers by Nick Backlund and Derrick Workman in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 6-2.

"Mercer is a very good team. I was very happy to see our offensive performance, but we didn't play consistent enough defense," GSU head coach Greg Frady said. "We had some faulty defense where we didn't make a play in the field, and that led to three runs. It's difficult when you give a good team extra outs," GSU head coach Greg Frady said.

Tonight's game marked the first time that Wilson, Raffield and Rose have all homered in the same game. The triumverate has combined for 42 homers and 143 RBI.

GSU starter Wayne Wages (0-1) took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits in two innings.

Sophomore Michael Lelko followed Wages with a career-long outing in relief, allowing no runs on just one hit in 3.2 innings. He struck out three.

"Just a fantastic performance by Mike Lelko to give us a chance to come back," Frady said. "I know the big three did their thing, but I thought Mike was the player of the game for us."

Mercer starter Ryan Askew (4-4) earned the win, allowing two runs on five hits over five innings. Kourtis was credited with his fifth save.

Georgia State now travels to Western Kentucky for its final Sun Belt Conference series, trying to hold onto one of the eight spots in the Sun Belt Tournament. GSU enters the weekend in eighth place, but just one half game ahead of ninth place Troy and one game in front of 10th place UALR.

"Without a doubt, it will be the biggest series of the year," Frady said. "After our seniors didn't get the opportunity to play in the postseason last year (GSU qualified but was unable to participate due to leaving the Colonial Athletic Association), I really want it to happen for them this year. We have to find a way."

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