DECATUR, Ga. - Western Illinois (1-3) baseball held a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth on Sunday afternoon but Georgia State (3-1) scored nine unanswered runs for the second straight game to cruise to the 9-4 victory and take the series, 3-1.
Western Illinois 4 at Georgia State 9
Game #4
February 19 - 11 a.m.
At the plate, Western was able to piece together a 4-0 advantage through the first four frames. Matt Igara started the second inning with a single to left field and Rich Mascheri followed by reaching on an error. Igara would cross the plate after a GSU wild pitch to give Western a 1-0 advantage.
The top of the fifth was more of the same as the Georgia State defense allowed Danny Marcuzzo and Vince Howard both to reach on errors. Austin Cowen singled to allow Marcuzzo to score and Dan Dispensa followed with a single of his own. Mascheri kept the inning going with an RBI single into centerfield. A double steal by Dispensa and Mascheri caused the catcher to commit the third error of the inning and Dispensa to come around to score giving the Purple & Gold a 4-0 lead.
Dan Russell was on the hill for the Leathernecks and kept GSU at bay for the first four frames in his 2012 debut.
Georgia State was quick to answer with three hits and four runs in the bottom of the fifth including a two-run double from Brandon Williams to tie the game at four runs a piece.
GSU's offensive attack continued with a sacrifice fly RBI in the bottom of the sixth, a three-run home run from catcher Scott Sarratt in the seventh and a solo shot from Kody Adams in the eighth to give the Panthers a 9-4 Sunday victory.
Western could only manage one hit during the final four innings of the series finale and the Panthers retired six straight to end the contest.
Russell went 5.0 innings (92 pitches/61 strikes) and was charged with four earned runs while walking one and striking out one Panther. Tyler Willman (0-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing two earned runs over his 1.1 innings. Philip Tolman was roughed up for two runs in 0.2 of an inning and Seth Fuller gave up one run in his inning of work.
Dispensa and Cowen both finished with two-hit games while Cowen and Mascheri collected RBI. Howard picked up his first hit as a Leatherneck in his second career start.
For the Panthers, Jerry Stuckey got the start and went 4.2 innings allowing four runs, all unearned but Connor Stanley (1-0) picked up the win with three scoreless innings.
GSU negated four errors by outhitting Western 13-7 including two home runs and impressive work from the Panther bullpen.
Early season action continues next weekend with the Bulldog Classic in Huntsville, Ala. with games with Indiana State (Friday at noon), host Alabama A&M (Saturday at 3 p.m.) and Maryland-Eastern Shore (Sunday at noon).
