ATLANTA, Ga. – Tuesday night's non-conference matchup between Georgia State Baseball and the visiting Gamecocks of Jacksonville State University was a dramatic back-and-forth affair that ended with the Panthers' 22nd victory of the season by a final score of 10-7.
Both offenses went to work quickly in the first inning, as a pair of home runs from
Michael Maginnis and
Colin Hynek were needed to cut the Panthers early deficit to 4-3. Maginnis' homer came on the very first pitch of the bottom half of the inning, while Hynek's two-run shot gave him a team-best 11 on the season.
After surrendering a pair of runs in the top of the second, the Panthers' offense took advantage of an error in the fourth and three bases loaded free passes in the fifth to take their first lead of the night, 7-6.
Before the fifth inning came to a close, Maginnis showed off his bat once again, placing a double where converging fielders could not catch it, extending the advantage to 9-7. Another bases loaded hit-by-pitch for Hynek stretched the lead to 10-6 to cap off a six-run inning for the Panthers.
Entering the game in relief in the second,
Brian Crooms tossed 4.2 scoreless innings to keep the Gamecocks at bay and protect the Panthers lead into the seventh inning.
The visitors scored one run in the eighth and threatened in the ninth, but
Jacob Crews polished off a scoreless final inning to earn his sixth save of the season.
The Panthers return to conference play this weekend, opening their series against Coastal Carolina University at home with a 6:00 p.m. start on Friday night.
Game Notes:
- Wills Maginnis' hit-by-pitch in the fifth inning marked his 16th of the season, moving him into a tie for the most in a single season in program history
