What You Need to Know:
* Joey Roach's three-run home run in the first inning put GSU ahead 3-0 at No. 13 Georgia Tech.
* Jack Thompson hit a two-run homer for the Panthers.
* Jaylen Woullard and Ryan Blanton each had two of the Panthers' 12 hits.
ATLANTA -- Joey Roach's three-run home run in the first inning put Georgia State in front at No. 13 Georgia Tech, but the Panthers (5-3) fell to the undefeated Yellow Jackets (8-0) 11-6 Tuesday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Roach had three hits on the day, and sophomore first baseman Jack Thompson belted his second homer of the season with a two-run shot in the sixth inning. Jaylen Woullard and Ryan Blanton each had two of the Panthers' 12 hits.
Georgia State led off the game with back-to-back hits by Jaylen Woulard and Justin Jones, and after two were out, Roach hit the 3-2 pitch over the left field fence for the opposite field home run and a 3-0 lead.
That was the 17th career homer for the senior catcher, who hit his first round-tripper on this same field as a freshman.
But Georgia Tech answered with Brandon Gold's two-out, two run double to the right field corner, pulling within 3-2. That snapped a string of 24 straight scoreless innings for the GSU pitching staff.
The Panthers still led 3-2 when Tech put up three runs in the fourth on Brandt Stalling's three-run homer and then five more in the fifth to pull ahead 10-3.
Thompson's long ball, his second of the season, made the score 10-5, and Georgia State added one more on a pinch hit, RBI-single by freshman Nick Gatewood.
In addition to his three hits, Roach threw out a runner attempting to steal. The Panthers also picked off two Tech runners at first base.
"I thought it was a competitive game, and for the most part, I'm relatively happy with the way we played," head coach Greg Frady said.. We hit with them, we hit home runs, we didn't make any errors, but the game got away from us in the middle part of the game. When you give up eight runs in two innings, it's really hard to win like that.
"All in all, there were more positives in this game, but there are some things we have to clean up. We just need more time for this team to come together and jell."
Georgia State returns home to host a three-game series with Minnesota, beginning Friday at 4 p.m.
