GEORGIA STATE TOPS FURMAN 4-1IN
BASEBALL ACTION ON WEDNESDAY
GREENVILLE -- Josh Vandiver went 2-for-3 with a double and a two-run home run to lead Georgia State to a 4-1 victory over Furman in baseball action Wednesday afternoon at Furman Stadium.
With the win Georgia State evens its record at 10-10. Furman, which had its four-game winning streak snapped, drops to 15-7.
Vandiver's two-run home run in the second inning to centerfield off Paladin starter Rusty Putnam (0-2) staked the Panthers to a 2-0 lead and gave Panthers starting pitcher Luis Marquez (2-0) all the runs he would need. Maquez, a junior righthander, gave up only one run and scattered six hits in five innings of work while Putnam surrendered a pair of runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings for the Paladins.
Furman made it a 2-1 game in the fifth inning when Adam Etherington scored from second base on an infield single by Derek Norman.
The Panthers stretched their lead to 4-1 with runs in the seventh and eighth innings on RBI singles by Michael Richards and Kyle Breitbach. Georgia State cut short a Furman threat in the bottom of the seventh when, with two outs and runners on first and second, relief pitcher Isaac Haynes picked off Justin Maderer at second base for the second pickoff of the game by Panther pitchers. Haynes went on to gain his first save of the year by yielding only one hit and striking out four over the final 2 1/3 innings.
Among the few highlights for Furman was Adam Etherington's 2-for-4 performance, which extended his hitting streak to 18 games.
"We didn't compete at the plate today they way we have the last week or so, and they got some timely hits to go along with our three errors," said Furman head coach Ron Smith. "When you make that many mistakes in a close game you're going to get beat, plus they got the big two-run blast. Other than the home run, I thought Rusty pitched well, but we just didn't get it done at the plate today."
Furman returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Boone, N.C., to take on Appalachian State in a doubleheader beignning at noon. The Paladins and Mountaineers wrap up the three-game conference series with a single game on Sunday beginning at 1:00 p.m.