ATLANTA, Ga. – Quiet bats and missed opportunities cost Little Rock in a 5-0 loss at Georgia State Friday afternoon at the GSU Baseball Complex. The loss drops the Trojans to 21-27 on the year and 11-12 in Sun Belt play.
Little Rock managed just three hits against four Georgia State pitchers as the Panther staff combined for 10 strikeouts against Trojan batters.
Jake Wright,
Nathan Lyons and
Miguel Soto were the lone Little Rock batters to register hits as five different Trojans were able to draw walks on the afternoon.
Despite the limited hits, Little Rock had a handful of opportunities to get on the scoreboard. The Trojans had runners at second and third with one out in the third, but hit into an inning-ending double play. One inning later, a pair of walks to
Kobe Barnum and
John Michael Russ to open the inning gave the Trojans two on with no outs, but back-to-back strikeouts and a ground out ended the threat.
The final threat came in the seventh when back-to-back one out singles from Wright and Lyons, followed by a wild pitch, put runners at second and third with just one gone. But once again, Georgia State escaped the threat with a strikeout and ground out.
Aaron Funk had a solid start to the game, getting through the first four innings scattering four hits with five strikeouts. But he ran into trouble in the fifth, allowing a walk and three-straight singles to bring three Panther runs across, aided by a Trojan throwing error. He would be credited with the loss, going 5.0 innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.
The Panthers added two more in the eighth, scoring a pair of runs off two hits, a fielders choice and a sacrifice bunt, putting the game out of reach.
The loss snaps Little Rock's 10-game winning streak against Georgia State, giving the Panthers their first win over the Trojans since April 8, 2016.
It sets up a dramatic finish to the regular season with a host of Sun Belt tournament seeding implications on the line. Little Rock will send
Jacob Weatherley to the mound for a 12 p.m. CT first pitch.
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