The pitching woes for Georgia State reared their head in the late innings of Tuesday night’s contest, falling to the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs 14-9 and extending their losing streak to five games.
Georgia State took the lead early in the game when redshirt junior Jae Williams was hit by a pitch on bases loaded, bringing home junior Sam Silas for his 10th run of the season. Willis Maginnis added some insurance runs in the fifth inning with a 2-run home run to notch his fifth of the year and make it a 3-0 ballgame heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
Left-Handed pitcher Hunter Atkins started for the first time in his career Tuesday afternoon, only allowing one hit before being knocked out in the fifth inning after an RBI double by Kolby Branch and Tre Phelps 2-run home run tied the game 3-3. Atkins tied his season high for longest outing by tossing 4 1/3 innings with three earned runs off three hits, striking out five Georgia batters and being saddled with a no-decision.
The Bulldogs added two more before the end of the fifth, a Jordy Oriach RBI single that scored Daniel Jackson and a Bryce Calloway hit by pitch on bases loaded that would push the score up 5-3 in favor of Georgia at the halfway mark.
Kolby Branch would come back up in the seventh inning and tack on his second RBI of the game with a single into center field, giving the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead and the senior infielder his 34th RBI of the season. Branch is two RBIs away from the 135th of his career.
With time running out, John Beverley delivered a 3-run home run for the first of his career and tied the game up at 6-6 in the eighth inning. Beverley has started in all 28 games this season for Georgia State after only starting in 25 games in 2025 as a freshman.
Graduate outfielder Adam Haber would also hit a 3-run home run later in the inning for the first of his career, extending the Georgia State lead 9-6. The Wofford transfer has appeared in 21 games for the Panthers, racking up 12 hits, 14 RBIs and a triple.
However, the Bulldogs came out with a vengeance in their half of the eighth inning and plated eight runs on the Panthers to push the game out of reach. The crooked inning was capped off by Tre Phelps second 2-run home run of the ballgame, giving the junior his 12th of the season.
The Panthers could not cover the deficit, extending their losing streak to five against the Bulldogs. They’ll stay on the road this weekend and head down to the bayou for a clash with Louisiana-Monroe.
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