Huntington, W.Va. -- Matt Ruiz homered and drove in the tying run with a ninth-inning single, but Georgia State fell 6-5 in 11 innings in its series opener at Marshall Friday at Jack Cook Field.

Ruiz homered for the third straight game, hitting a 2-run shot in the fifth inning to give the Panthers (22-25, 10-12 Sun Belt) a 4-1 advantage, but Marshall (14-31, 7-15) scored four in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead.

Ruiz, who hit the go-ahead 3-run homer in the ninth inning Wednesday at Mercer, delivered again in the ninth. After Jesse Donohoe led off with a double and Brennan Hudson walked with one out, Ruiz laced a single to right field to score pinch runner Henry Koehler from second base with the tying run and send the game to extra innings.

Georgia State had a scoring chance in the top of the 11th with runners at first and second and one out but left them stranded. In the bottom half, Ethan Murdoch led off with double to right field corner and stole third. He was initially called out for sliding past the base, but the call was reversed after review. With one out, Jack Smith got down a squeeze bunt to bring Murdoch home with the winning run.

GSU starter Kameron Douglas went four innings for a career-long outing, allowing just one run on three hits. Brian Garmon II (2-4) pitched the final 3.2 innings and gave up one run on two hits with four strikeouts.

Will Mize gave the Panthers an early lead with a 2-run homer in the first inning, his team-leading 12th of the season that extended his hitting streak to 16 games.

The homers by Mize and Ruiz give Georgia State 79 on the season, the third-highest total in program history.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m.