What You Need to Know:
• Senior Marc-Andre Habeck pitched six scoreless innings to lead Georgia State to a 5-4 victory and doubleheader split at Georgia Southern Friday.
• Senior Wayne Wages pitched a complete game in Game 1 but the Panthers fell 6-0.
• Arkansas State's win Friday night eliminated the Panthers from the Sun Belt Conference tournament, so Saturday's game is the season finale.
Statesboro, Ga. -- Senior Marc-Andre Habeck pitched six scoreless innings and Jaylen Woullard drove in two runs to lead Georgia State to a 5-4 victory over Georgia Southern and earn a doubleheader split Friday afternoon at J.I. Clements Stadium. Georgia Southern won the first game 6-0.
But Arkansas State scored six runs in the ninth inning for a comeback victory over Little Rock Friday night to eliminate Georgia State (24-30, 10-19) from the Sun Belt Conference tournament. Saturday's 1 p.m. game at Georgia Southern (32-23, 15-14) will be the Panthers' season finale.
Habeck (2-5), the right-hander from Canada, allowed just three hits in six shutout innings with six strikeouts and four walks.
Senior lefty Garrett Ford pitched the final three innings to earn his first career save. After a three-run double by Georgia Southern's Evan McDonald pulled the Eagles within 5-4, Ford induced an easy ground ball to the mound from Logan Baldwin to end the inning. In the ninth, he got Sun Belt home run leader Ryan Cleveland to ground out for the first out. After an error put the tying run on base, Ford picked off Jordan Wren trying to steal second for the second out, then ended the game with a popup.
Georgia State got on the board with two runs in the fifth inning as Woullard brought home James Clements on a groundout and then Will Kilgore scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.
One inning later, the Panthers added two more. After Blanton led off with a walk, freshman Darius Sewell smacked his first triple to right center. Then Jack Thompson delivered an RBI single to put GSU ahead 4-0.
Georgia State scored one more run that proved to crucial in the sixth as Kilgore led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when Woullard executed a safety squeeze for a 5-0 advantage. Woullard, the junior left fielder, made just his second start since April 24 due to injury.
In Game 1, which started at 10 a.m., senior Wayne Wages pitched a complete game, but the Panthers managed only three hits in seven innings off Georgia Southern starter Evan Challenger.
Wren had a solo homer and a two-run single for the Eagles, and Cleveland hit his 15th homer.
Kilgore, the Georgia State second baseman, was 4-for-6 in the doubleheader before leaving Game 2 with an injured shoulder, another tough break for a Panther squad that has been riddled by injuries.
The Panthers turned three double plays in the doubleheader, giving them 51 on the season.
