ATLANTA, Ga. - Western Illinois baseball is still searching for their first victory after it fell to Georgia State, 3-0, on Friday afternoon.
Dustin Hunter was solid for the Fighting Leathernecks as he went 5.1 innings and allowed just one run on one hit. Hunter struck out two Panthers while walking five. Hunter did not allow a hit until the sixth inning. The teams matched zeros on the scoreboard until Joey Wood delivered an RBI double to right center field to put the Panthers up 1-0.
That removed Hunter from the game and in came Philip Tolman for his second appearance on the year. Tolman grooved one for Mark Micowski and he deposited it over the right field wall for a two-run shot. That would be all the runs that were scored on the day and the Panthers would go on to win by three runs.
Three double plays proved to be costly for the Leathernecks as Matt Igara lined out to left field and Georgia State was able to double-off Dan Dispensa at second base. The fifth inning had promise as Danny Marcuzzo collected his first hit of the season to lead off the inning. Chris Giglio hit a laser to third base, which was snagged, and Marcuzzo had to freeze and was thrown out at first. It was the same story in the eighth inning as Marcuzzo reached after being hit on the elbow. The Leatherneck third baseman was caught stealing at second base to empty the bases. Giglio walked but Dispensa grounded into his second double play of the day, this was to the second baseman.
Austin Cowen delivered a double and went 1-3 on the day. Matt Igara, Tom Lilja and Marcuzzo all contributed one hit apiece.
Hunter falls to 0-1 after his Leatherneck debut. Tolman and Dan Russell combined for the last 2.2 innings of work.
Justin Malone was impressive for Georgia State as he went 7.0 innings to move to 2-0 on the season. Malone struck out five hitters and allowed just four hits.
Jeremy Gazerro went an inning before Ben Marshall picked up the save, his second of the year.
The Leathernecks and Panthers will square off tomorrow for two games starting at 12 p.m. (CST). Ryan Wachholder will start game one and Alexander Zarate will go in game two. Both of them will be making their second start of the season. Be sure to listen in to the live broadcast on Rocky Vision at 11:45 a.m. (CST).
