With a 10-inning walk-off followed by a mammoth offensive output, Georgia State swept a doubleheader from No. 14 West Virginia, 7-6 and 20-4, Saturday at the GSU Baseball Complex for the Panthers' first wins over a ranked team since 2018.
Georgia State, whose last win over a ranked team was against No. 16 Coastal Carolina in 2018, earned consecutive victories against a ranked squad for the first time ever while scoring its most runs ever against a ranked opponent.
Senior Elian Merejo delivered the walk-off hit in Game 1 and then drove in four more runs in the nightcap, finishing the day with four hits, six RBI and four runs scored. Will Mize homered in the Panthers' 11-run first-inning in Game 2 and collected six hits on the day.
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"That's a very good, nationally-ranked West Virginia team, and we played our butts off. I'm really proud of the team," head coach Brad Stromdahl said. "We had some gutsy pitching performances. We stuck to our plan offensively and the ball bounced our way."
The series concludes with a noon game Sunday at the GSU Baseball Complex.
GAME 1
Elian Merejo's 10th-inning, walk-off single lifted Georgia State to a 7-6 walk-off win over No. 14 West Virginia in the first game of a doubleheader at the GSU Baseball Complex.
The Mountaineers rallied to score three unearned runs in the top of the ninth to force extras. In the bottom of the 10th, pinch hitter Blaine Marchman led off and was hit by a pitch. He moved to second on a sacrifice and with one out, Merejo singled to left field and Marchman raced home with the winning run.
Nothing like a walk-off!
— Georgia State University Baseball (@GaStateBaseball) February 20, 2021
Panthers down No. 14 @WVUBaseball, 7-6 in 10 innings as Elian Merejo brings home the game-winner.#GSUnited | #LightItBlue🔷 pic.twitter.com/69wHF8EA2w
Camren Landy (1-0) pitched a perfect top of the 10th, including two strikeouts, to earn his first victory.
Trailing 2-0, Georgia State tied the game with two runs in the third. Griffin Cheney and Elian Merejo led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to put the Panthers on the board, and then Merejo scored on a fielder's choice by Dalton Pearson to even the game at 2-2. For Pearson, the true freshman from John's Creek High School, that was his second RBI in as many games.
The Panthers took the lead one inning later as Kyle Riesselmann led off the fifth with a triple over the right fielder's head, his third career triple in just 17 games.
But West Virginia answered immediately on a solo homer by Matt McCormick, who homered for the second straight day.
Ryan Glass and Kyle Riesselman delivered run-scoring doubles in the sixth inning to put GSU up 5-3, and then freshman Dalton Pearson gave the Panthers a 6-3 lead with an RBI-single in the seventh.
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GAME 2
Georgia State exploded for 11 runs in the first inning en route to a 20-4 victory to complete the doubleheader sweep of No. 14 West Virginia.
The Panthers sent 14 men to the plate and collected eight hits in their first at-bat. Will Mize doubled and hit a two-run homer, his first, while Elian Merejo, Kalen Puckett and Ashby Smith also drove in two runs in the inning.
GSU (2-1) finished with 20 hits by 10 different players, while nine players drove in runs.
Merejo and Ashby Smith each drove in four, while Mize added three RBI and Kalen Puckett and DeAngelo Abboud had two each.
In his first career start, Cameron Jones cruised through the first four innings but was lifted after 4-2/3. He allowed three runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Rafael Acosta (1-0) came and tossed three scoreless innings with three strikeouts to pick up his first victory.
West Virginia fell to 1-2 on the season.
