ATLANTA -- Jack Thompson and Will Kilgore homered to lead Georgia State to a 4-2 victory over Mercer Wednesday at the GSU Baseball Complex as the Panthers defeated their in-state rival for the fourth time in the last five meetings.
Georgia State evened its record at 18-18, while Mercer dropped to 26-13.
In a scoreless game, Romero Greer led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double to left field, and then Thompson hit the 2-0 pitch from Mercer reliever Nick Spear (2-2) over the fence for a 2-0 GSU lead. That is the second homer of the season for the Panthers' senior first baseman.
After Mercer answered with a run in the top of the sixth, Greer and Thompson figured in the Panthers' next run as well. Leading off the seventh inning, Greer ripped a single back up the middle and moved into scoring position on Thompson's sacrifice. Then Justin Jones delivered an RBI-single on a ball that deflected off the pitcher and into left field to put GSU ahead 3-1.
In the eighth, Kilgore hit his first homer of the season with a solo blast to left that gave Georgia State a 4-1 lead.
"Will Kilgore hit a home run, Jack Thompson hit a home run, and it feels good to win," head coach Greg Frady said. "Jack hit every ball hard tonight, and Will made up for lost time, because that ball was really well hit."
On a staff night, five Georgia State pitchers combined to limit the Bears to two runs on six hits while striking out 10. Starter Tanner Thomson allowed just one hit in three scoreless innings. Bryan White (1-3) came on in the fourth and earned the victory by pitching into the sixth.
Trey Horton and Brandon Baker took the game into the eighth, when Mercer put runners at first and third with one out. Then Jansen Acton came on and ended the threat with back-to-back strikeouts. Acton allowed one run in the ninth but finished the game to earn his fourth save.
"Tonight every single pitcher did their job," Frady said.
Georgia State hits the road to face Sun Belt Conference leader and nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina for a three-game series that begins Friday at 6 p.m. in Conway, S.C.
