TOWSON, Md. - Senior rightfielder Kevin Collins had three hits and drove in three runs as the Tigers (6-20, 3-4) exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning to come from behind and edge defending Colonial Athletic Association champion Georgia State (14-12, 2-2) by a 14-8 margin in the opening game of their three-game CAA weekend series at John B. Schuerholz Park on Friday afternoon.
Playing just their third home game of the season, the Tigers entered the bottom of the eighth inning trailing by an 8-7 margin. Junior third baseman Austin Harclerode led off the inning by drawing a walk from junior lefthander Aidan Francis. After Francis fell behind sophomore catcher Brian Wyman with a 2-1 count, Coach Greg Frady replaced him with sophomore righthander Justin Malone.
After Harclerode stole second base, Malone walked Wyman to put two runners on base. When sophomore centerfielder Ben Winter drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch, the Tigers had the bases loaded with no outs. Junior shortstop Nick Natoli drove in the tying run when he hit a line drive to leftfielder Brett Maxwell. Maxwell's throw got away from catcher Carter Sackett as Harclerode scored the tying run while pinch runner Brady Baxter advanced to third base and Winter moved to second base.
With Collins coming to the plate, the Panthers decided to walk him intentionally, loading the bases for the Tigers' leading hitter, senior first baseman Steve Yarsinsky. On the first pitch from Malone, Yarsinsky singled to rightcenter field, scoring Baxter and giving the Tigers a 9-8 lead. It appeared that the Panthers might get out of the inning when junior second baseman Chris Wychock hit a hard ground ball to shortstop Bryan Condotta. However, Condotta made an error as the ball went off his glove into centerfield, allowing Winter and Collins to score and increase the lead to 11-8. Moments later, Yarsinsky scored on a passed ball to give the Tigers a 12-8 advantage. When freshman leftfielder Kurt Wertz drilled a double off the left centerfield fence, Wychock scored to give the Tigers a 13-8 lead.
Sophomore righthander Ben Marshall was summoned to relieve Malone and he walked junior designated hitter Eric Weller on four pitches. When Harclerode was retired on a fly ball to right, Wertz advanced to third base. With Weller on first and Wertz on third and Baxter at the plate, the Tigers added to their lead with some trickery. On a 1-2 pitch, Weller broke for second base and stopped. While he was trapped in a rundown, Wertz raced home with the seventh run of the inning to put Towson ahead, 14-8.
"We had some very good at bats in the eighth inning," said Towson Coach Mike Gottlieb. "We were patient at the plate and took advantage of their control problems. We loaded the bases on walks with no outs. It was a great opportunity for us and we capitalized on it.
"This is a good win for us," he added. "Hopefully, it will give us more confidence for the rest of the weekend."
In their seven-run inning, the Tigers scored seven runs on only two hits. There were five walks, a wild pitch, a passed ball and two errors in the inning.
After the Tigers took their 14-8 lead, sophomore righthander Sean Bertrand nailed down the victory by pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
In a game that was tied three times, the Tigers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, thanks to a two-out rally. With two outs, Collins singled through the right side. With Yarsinsky at the plate, Collins stole second base. When Yarsinsky drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch, the Tigers had two runners on base. Wychock followed with a double down the leftfield line, scoring Collins with the first run of the game. With runners on second and third, junior righthander David Buchanan came back to strike out Wertz on three pitches, ending the threat.
The Panthers wasted little time tying the game. With one out in the second inning, junior rightfielder Ryan Fleming launched a 400-foot home run over the right centerfield fence. His ninth homer of the season tied the game at 1-1. With two outs, freshman righthander Michael Trionfo walked junior second baseman Rob Lind. Lind advanced to third base when Sackett lined a double to leftfield. However, Trionfo retired senior shortstop Carl Moniz on a fly ball to left where Wertz made a fine running catch.
The Tigers rallied to take a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Weller led off the inning and reached base when he was hit by a pitch. After Weller went to second base on a wild pitch, Harclerode drew a walk. With Wyman at bat, Coach Gottlieb put the runners in motion on a 3-2 pitch. When Wyman grounded out to third base, both Weller and Harclerode moved into scoring position. Winter gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead when he doubled to centerfield, scoring Weller and Harclerode. With two outs, Collins singled up the middle to score Winter from second base. Yarsinsky followed with a single to left before Buchanan retired Wychock on a fly ball to end the threat.
Trailing by 4-1 in the fourth inning, the Panthers rallied for three runs to tie the game at 4-4. Fleming led off the inning with a double off the left centerfield fence, barely missing his second home run of the game. When sophomore first baseman Brandon Williams followed with a single to center, Fleming scored to cut the deficit to 4-2. A single by Lind gave the Panthers two runners on base. Sackett made it a 4-3 game when he lined a single to left, driving in Williams.
With runners on first and second and no outs, a sacrifice bunt by Moniz moved both runners into scoring position. When Trionfo walked junior centerfielder Mark Micowski, the Panthers had the bases loaded. Maxwell bunted to first base for the second out of the inning as Lind scored the tying run. Trionfo pitched out of the inning when he retired sophomore Joey Wood on a ground ball to second base.
In the top of the fifth inning, Trionfo retired the first two hitters before running into trouble. Williams gave Georgia State a 5-4 lead when he lined his second home run of the season down the left field line, just inside the foul pole. Lind followed with a single before Trionfo issued a walk to Sackett. With two runners on base, Trionfo was relieved by freshman righthander Mike Bronakoski. Moniz greeted him with a single to left field, scoring Lind to make it a 6-4 lead. Bronakoski escaped the inning with no further damage when Micowski grounded out to shortstop.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Wychock launched his fourth home run of the season over the centerfield fence to pull the Tigers to within 6-5.
In the sixth inning, Maxwell led off with a triple to centerfield. He scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 7-5. With two outs, Fleming blasted his second home run of the game down the right field line to give Georgia State an 8-5 edge.
Trailing by 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers cut into their deficit. With one out, Wyman lined a single off Buchanan on the mound, forcing him to leave the game. Buchanan was replaced by Francis. After striking out Winter for the second out of the inning, Francis gave up a bloop double to rightfield by Natoli, advancing Wyman to third base. Collins followed with a hard single to rightfield, driving in two runs to make it an 8-7 game. Francis ended the rally by retiring Yarsinsky on a ground ball to shortstop.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Panthers made a bid to extend their lead against junior righthander Drew Permison. Micowski led off the inning with a walk before Maxwell popped up to first base. After Wood drew a walk, the Panthers had runners on first and second. But Permison struck out Logan on three pitches before Fleming was retired on a long fly ball to the deepest part of the ballpark where Winter made the catch.
Each team had 12 hits in the game. Fleming, who ranks among the NCAA leaders with ten home runs, was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI's to lead Georgia State. Williams also went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs. Lind added two hits and scored two runs while Sackett had a pair of hits and drove in one run.
Collins led the Tigers with three hits and three RBI's. He also scored a pair of runs. Yarsinsky, who extended his hitting streak to 17 games, was 2-for-4 while Wychock had two hits and three RBI's. The Tigers took advantage of the seven walks issued by Georgia State pitchers. In fact, five of the seven Tigers who were walked came around to score runs.
Permison, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Tigers, earned his first win of the season. He pitched one inning and did not allow a hit. He walked two and struck out one.
Buchanan, who started for the Panthers, allowed six runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings of work. He walked two and struck out four.
The Tigers and the Panthers will play the second game of their three-game series on Saturday afternoon, April 3 at Schuerholz Park at 1:00 p.m.
