Panthers Hold Off Bulldogs

Tuesday, April 25

Athens, Ga.

6:00 p.m

University of Georgia

23-18

Georgia State

21-21

Georgia State

Georgia

April 25, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score UGABoxG41.pdf

ATHENS – Georgia saw its four-game winning streak end after Georgia State hung on for a 9-7 decision Tuesday night at Foley Field before 2,841 spectators.

Georgia (23-18) blasted four home runs, all solo shots, but left 13 men on base while the Panthers evened their record on the season at 21-21.

Bulldog Junior Parks Harber (2-fo-5, 4 RBI) led the charge with two solo blasts to give him 14 home runs on the season. Sophomore Cole Wagner and junior Fernando Gonzalez picked up one homer a piece to contribute to the Bulldogs' nine hits on the evening.

Georgia State got on the board early with a two-run home run from Luke Boynton and then a leadoff home run by Will Mize in the second made it 3-0. The Bulldogs answered in the second with two runs. Harber launched a leadoff home run, his 13th of the season, to right field, and Wagner followed suit with his fifth homer of the year to right field. This is the third time this season Georgia has hit back-to-back home runs.

Georgia starter Blake Gillespie tossed two innings and allowed three runs on four hits with two strikeouts as part of a staff night. Graduate Dalton Rhadans was next and allowed a run on one hit over two innings and dropped to 2-1. Kyle Greenler, DJ Radtke and Jarvis Evans all pitched a scoreless inning among the seven Bulldogs to see action on the mound.

Georgia knotted the score at three in the third. With graduate Ben Anderson waiting on third after getting on base with a leadoff single, Harber reached on a fielder's choice that gave Anderson the go ahead to score. Boynton hit his second home run of the evening to give the lead back to Georgia State in the fourth. The Panthers bolstered their lead in the fifth with three runs. With two runners on, Dylan Strickland scored on a wild pitch. Georgia State then loaded the bases. A two-run single from Mize gave the Panthers a 7-3 lead. Harber launched his second home run of the game in the fifth to cut the Panthers' lead to three, 7-4. Junior Sebastian Murillo drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth then advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. A single to center field from graduate Connor Tate scored Murillo as the Bulldogs trailed by two, 7-5. Georgia State responded in the sixth with a pair of runs to extend its lead. A triple from Matt Ruiz scored Max Ryerson. Mize then singled to plate Ruiz, 9-5.

Gonzalez cranked Georgia's fourth solo home run of the night in the seventh, marking his 10th home run of the season. Another run was added to the board by Georgia in the eighth off a sacrifice fly from Wagner. The Panthers held their 9-7 lead through the bottom of the ninth as the Bulldogs stranded a pair in scoring position.

Georgia State's Camren Landry picked up his third win, pitching one scoreless frame with one strikeout. Brady Jones came in for the save in the ninth inning, giving up no hits and striking out one batter with a pair of walks.

"We played well this past weekend, and now we have to take that momentum into this weekend and try to win another series," Georgia's Ike Cousins head baseball coach Scott Stricklin said. "That's our goal, trying to win a series. Ole Miss will be hungry. They'll be ready to go, and that's a tough place to play. We're going to have to be at our best and play like we did this past weekend. If we do that, then we'll have a chance to win the series."

Georgia will travel to Oxford for a weekend series against Ole Miss. The series will open Friday evening with first pitch at 7:32 p.m. ET The game will be live on SEC Network+ and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.