The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Matt Rose homered twice and doubled and Rhett Harper drove in three runs to lead Georgia State to its seventh straight victory, 10-5 over Savannah State Wednesday at the GSU Baseball Complex. The Sun Belt Conference leaders improved to 26-15 overall.

After belting his 13th and 14th homers of the season, Rose is now tied for the NCAA lead, and the junior All-American has 29 career homers.

Rose’s solo blasts in the first and fifth innings helped Georgia State to a 5-2 lead after five, but Savannah State (16-26) tied the game with three runs in the sixth, aided by three walks, a hit batter and an error.

Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Rose just missed his third bomb of the day, settling for a double to the wall in the left field, and freshman Jack Thompson drove him in with a two-out single to give the Panthers the lead for good. The rookie first baseman also had a run-scoring single in the first inning.

With the Panthers still holding just a one-run lead in the eighth inning, the freshman Harper delivered a bases-loaded, three-run double to left. Another freshman, Will Johnson, added a pinch-hit, run-scoring single up the middle for a 10-5 lead.

Georgia State relievers Connor Stanley, Cole Uvila and Kevin Burgee finished the game by striking out the final eight batters. Stanley (3-0) earned the victory with 1.1 scoreless innings.

Freshman shortstop Justin Jones extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest for a Panther this season, with a bunt single in GSU’s four-run eighth. Three other freshmen, Harper, Thompson and Johnson, combined to drive in six of Georgia State’s 10 runs.

Junior right-hander Clayton Payne made his first start for the Panthers and allowed two runs on six hits with three strikeouts in five innings.

Georgia State’s seven-game winning streak is its longest since an eight-game string in 2013.

The Panthers, leading the Sun Belt with a 13-3 record, now travel to third-place South Alabama (11-7 Sun Belt) for a weekend series.