ATLANTA -- Brandon Bell had four hits at the plate while earning a save on the mound as Georgia State rallied for a 9-7 victory over Kennesaw State Wednesday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
The Panthers (8-17) trailed 5-1 early before pitcher Rhett Harper, making his first at-bats in nearly three years, delivered an RBI-single in the seventh inning to give Georgia State a 6-5 lead that it would not relinquish. Harper reached base in four of his five at-bats with two singles and two walks.
Freshman Josh Smith drove in three runs, and senior pitchers Will White and Liam Henry (1-0) combined for five scoreless innings.
Kennesaw State (15-11) managed five runs in its first three at-bats, but the Panthers slowly chipped away. Smith drove in a run with a groundout in the second inning, and Ryan Glass led off the fourth with a single and scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth, Luke Leonard's RBI-single pulled the Panthers within 5-3.
Georgia State tied the game in the sixth inning with four consecutive singles, all after two were out, from Daino Deas, Dalton Davies, Griffin Cheney, who drove in Deas, and Bell, who brought home Davies with the tying run.
Leonard led off the seventh with a single and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt. With one out, Harper singled up the middle to score Leonard and give GSU its first lead. After another error, Harper scored on a passed ball to put the Panthers up 7-5.
Smith delivered two key insurance runs in the eighth with a bases-loaded single through a drawn-in infield to send the Panthers to ninth inning with a 9-5 lead.
After Jake Franklin's two-run homer in the top of the ninth brought KSU within 9-7, Bell came on and struck out Garrett Hodges to end the game and earn his second save, to go along with his three singles, double and RBI at the plate. Bell has 12 hits in the last four games.
Georgia State pounded out 16 hits in the game, including Bell's four plus two each by Deas, Griffin, Leonard, Smith and Harper.
White, the senior lefty, came on in the third inning and pitched four scoreless innings, allowing four hits while walking none. Henry tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning to earn the victory.
"I think it's one of the best offensive games we've put together," head coach Greg Frady said. "It was really a night about seniors. Brandon Bell was incredible with four hits and a save. Rhett Harper did a great job. Liam Henry got the win, and Will White really stopped them early in the game. Luke Leonard played well. We were led by our seniors, and then our young guys emerged too.
It was a win that we really needed against a crosstown rival, and it does feel good as we get ready to get on the plane to Little Rock"
Georgia State travels to Little Rock this weekend for a Sun Belt Conference series that opens Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
