The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Georgia State fell 2-0 in its series finale at Troy Sunday at Riddle-Pace Field. The Panthers (28-23, 14-11 Sun Belt) were swept in the series, losing the three game by a total of five runs.

Three Troy (29-23, 17-10) pitchers combined for the shutout, limiting GSU to five hits and two walks.

Troy starter Austin Crook did not allow a run in 4.2 innings but was lifted in the fifth inning for Marc Skinner 2-3), who earned the victory with 3.1 scoreless innings.

Garrett Ford (1-2) turned in a strong performance in just his fifth start of the season but suffered the loss. The junior left-hander pitched 5.1 innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits.

Troy managed an unearned run in the third when Ford threw wildly to third base, and the Trojans added an insurance run in sixth on a sacrifice fly, set up by a hit batter and a walk.

“We really could not get our offense going or string anything together to be productive offensively,” said head coach Greg Frady, whose Panthers are playing without injured leadoff man and leading hitter Ryan Blanton.

“When you’re in a tough environment like Troy and you’re playing the good teams in our conference, there isn’t much margin for error. You really have to be good in all three phases. I thought we played really good defense and we pitched outstanding in this three-game series, but we just didn’t do enough offensively to give our pitching staff a chance.

“It’s disappointing to lose, but one positive to take away is that we gained a lot of experience playing on this field (site of the conference tournament),” Frady continued. “We’ve got important games against Georgia Southern coming up.”

The Panthers look to secure their place in the Sun Belt Conference tournament as they host Georgia Southern in the final regular season series, Thursday through Saturday at the GSU Baseball Complex.