ORLANDO – Georgia State senior right-handed pitcher Ronnie Robinson pitched 8.0 innings and held UCF to just two runs on six hits to lead the Panthers past host UCF 5-2 Friday evening. The loss spoiled the Golden Knights’ A-Sun opener and snapped their five-game winning streak. With the win, Georgia State improved to 10-8 overall, 4-3 in the league while UCF dropped to 14-6, 0-1 in the conference.
Robinson improved to 4-0 on the season to give Georgia State just their third win ever in 15 meetings vs. UCF.
The Panthers scored an early two runs in the first inning to take a quick 2-0 lead. After a leadoff double by Kevin Kawasaki, Mike Buchanan laid down a perfect bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error by UCF starting pitcher Taylor Cobb, which also scored Kawasaki. After a passed ball, Tim Burgess drove a sacrifice fly to center field giving GSU the 2-0 advantage.
UCF got one run back in the first on a RBI-groundout by Dee Brown to score David Mann.
Each team scored a run in the third inning to make the score 3-1 Georgia State. The score remained the same until the eighth when GSU added two insurance runs off UCF reliever Von David Stertzbach to close out the scoring, 5-2. The Panthers totaled three doubles in the frame to lead to their two runs.
Robinson made the lead stand the entire evening as he threw 130 pitches for the Panthers. The senior struck out nine UCF batters while issuing just one walk. Cody Webb pitched the ninth inning to total his second save of the year.
Cobb was saddled with the loss for UCF, falling to 2-1 on the year. In 6.0 innings, the sophomore right-hander yielded two earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Dee Brown and Ryan Bear each collected one hit apiece to extend both of their hitting streaks to 10 games for UCF.
The Golden Knights and Panthers will resume the three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader.
Georgia State Spoils Baseball's A-Sun Opener
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