Panthers Split Double Header By Topping Army 5-2

Emerson, Ga. — Nick Gatewood and Ryan Blanton provided run-scoring singles in Georgia State’s three-run eighth inning that put the Panthers ahead and on their wasy to a 5-2 win over Army in Sunday’s second game at the LakePoint Sporting Community. GSU dropped the first game to Bowling Green, 6-3.

After Army (4-10) took a 2-1 lead with an unearned run in the seventh, Will Kilgore was hit by a pitch to lead off the GSU eighth, and then Payton Mann singled. Darius Sewell put down a bunt but Army tried to cut down Kilgore at third; he beat the throw to load the bases.

That’s when Gatewood came off the bench to pinch hit and smacked a single into left field to bring in the tying run. Jaylen Woullard grounded into a double play, but Mann came home with the go-ahead run. Then Blanton added a key insurance run with an RBI single to right, putting GSU up 4-2.

The Panthers (9-7) added another run in the ninth when Darius Sewell’s single drove in Kilgore, who led off with a double down the left field line.

Liam Henry, the sophomore right-hander, pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts in his third scoreless outing of the week. He also tossed 2.2 shutout innings in Wednesday’s win at No. 14 Ole Miss and then pitched two more perfect innings in Saturday’s combined shutout of Army.

Rhett Harper earned the save, his second of the week and third of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Tyler Elwer (1-1) was the pitcher of record for GSU after pitching the seventh inning for his first victory. In his first start, Jordan Lee allowed just one run on four hits in five innings but did not figure in the decision.

Playing a doubleheader on a very cold, damp day with temperatures in the 40s,

In Game 1 vs. Bowling Green, Georgia State took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a run-scoring single by Terrell Frazier and a sacrifice fly by Woullard. But the Falcons (4-10) took control with a four-run fourth inning, scoring the go-ahead runs on a costly error to take a 4-2 lead. The Panthers pulled within 4-3 with an unearned run in the sixth, but Bowling Green sealed the win with two runs in the eighth.

One highlight of Game 1 was the performance of reliever Devin Vainer, who relieved starter Tanner Thomson (1-1) and pitched 3.1 scoreless innings. Vainer leads the team with seven appearances and has not allowed an earned run.

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