NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Senior Luke Boynton hit two of Georgia State's five home runs to power the Panthers to a 12-3 Opening Day win at New Orleans Friday at Maestri Field.
Michael Maginnis, Henry Koehler and Colin Hynek also homered for the Panthers, and three pitchers combined to strike out 14 while allowing just five hits.
Sophomore Brady Jones (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for Georgia State (1-0). The right-hander went three innings, giving up two runs, zero earned, on two hits, allowing one walk and striking out four. Sophomore Rob Evans had a strong outing in his GSU debut, starting the ballgame and throwing four shutout innings while allowing two hits, with five walks and six strikeouts.
Boynton went 3-for-4 at the plate, supplementing his two home runs with three RBIs. Koehler, the graduate transfer from Davidson, added to Boynton's power-hitting performance by going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Maginnis also chipped in for the Panthers, going 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two RBI. He homered on Opening Day for the second straight year.
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers got the scoring started early, putting two runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Georgia State plated two runs when Boynton left the yard with senior Will Mize aboard.
The Panthers then held the Privateers scoreless before expanding their lead in the fifth inning. Georgia State picked up a run on Maginnis' leadoff home run off of junior Colton Mercer, which brought the Panthers lead to 3-0.
Georgia State kept New Orleans scoreless before building their lead to 4-0 the following inning. The Panthers recorded a run on Boynton's two-out solo home run off junior Cortez Dennis.
Georgia State kept the Privateers without a run before their offense got back in action the next inning. The Panthers put up three runs, two coming on home runs from both Koehler and sophomore Colin Hynek, bringing the score to 7-0 in favor of Georgia State.
New Orleans got within 7-2 until the Panthers scored again in the eighth inning to stretch its lead to 12-2. The Georgia State offense piled up five runs, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of Koehler. New Orleans put one run on the scoreboard before the game was over, but the Panthers still coasted to the 12-3 win.
GAME NOTES
» The Panthers got two home runs off the bat of Boynton, who 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI.
» Boynton's two homers give him 30 for his career, No. 10 in GSU history.
» Rob Evans struck out six Privateers hitters.
» Boynton and Koehler drove in three runs each for the Panthers.
» The Georgia State pitching staff combined to strike out 14 New Orleans hitters.
» Georgia State's highest scoring inning was the eighth, when it pushed five runs across.
» Georgia State took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Four Panthers had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» The Panthers out-hit the Privateers at an 11-5 clip.
» Georgia State pitchers limited New Orleans to just 1-for-11 (.091) with runners in scoring position.
» Georgia State pitchers faced 46 New Orleans hitters in the game, allowing one ground balls and 12 fly balls while striking out 14.
» The Panthers drew four walks from New Orleans pitching.
» New Orleans was led offensively by junior Mitchell Sanford, who went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
