May 6, 2006
Box Score
Courtesy Georgia State Sports Information
PANTHERSVILLE, Ga.-- Sophomore Jean-Michel Rochon-Salvas homered, doubled, and had the walk-off, game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Georgia State (20-26, 9-14 CAA) an important 8-7 win over George Mason (20-27, 12-14) in Colonial Athletic Association play today.
"It was hard last night to lose that game the way we did," said Rochon-Salvas, referring to the 17-14 affair the night before in which Mason scored 11 runs in the eighth to secure the comeback win. "Today we just came out ready to play."
The native of Quebec hit a solo homer in the bottom of the first to stake the Panthers to a 1-0 lead. But George Mason would storm back to score six straight runs to take the lead. A sac fly by Tyler Youngs in the top of the second tied the score at 1-all.
Mason would score three runs in the top of the fifth, taking advantage of a big Panther error to push across two of those runs unearned. A sac fly by Matt York scored Spencer Wiggins to make it 2-1. Then with two outs in the frame, a chopper up the middle off the bat of Scott Kreiger was fielded by Rochon-Salvas, but Charlie Pelt wasn't in position to receive the throw at first, and the ball sailed into the Mason dugout to score another run. One batter later, a single by Casey Slattery scored Kreiger to make it 4-1.
A York homer and an RBI single by Jason Bour made it 6-1 in the top of the seventh. But then the Panthers began to rally. Pelt atoned for his error by doubling to the gap in left center, scoring Rochon-Salvas to make it 6-2. After the double, catcher Aeden McQueary-Ennis legged out an infield hit, and the throw to first by Youngs at second went into the Mason dugout, scoring Pelt.
State would take a brief lead in the eighth, putting four runs up on the board. After three singles in a row (including back-to-back bunt singles), Rochon-Salvas came up with the bases loaded and lined a 1-0 pitch down the line in left to score Nick McEntyre and Eric Suttle. Pelt then evened the score at 6-all with a sac fly to left, scoring Ryan Sterling from third.
McQueary-Ennis then came through with one out to give State the lead. The junior from Windermere, Fla., laced the first pitch he saw down the line in left for a double, scoring Rochon-Salvas to give State a 7-6 advantage.
The lead would be short-lived, however, as Mason came back to tie the game in the top of the ninth. York connected for his second homer of the game, this one a towering blast over the extended wall 385-feet away in dead center to make it 7-7.
But as has become the theme for the series, neither team wanted to say die, and this time the Panthers took advantage. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, McEntyre walked on four straight, and Suttle and Sterling followed with singles. That set the stage for Rochon-Salvas' final heroics of the day, lifting a fly ball to right over the drawn in outfielders to score McEntyre from third and give State the 8-7 win.
Mason hurler Brent Hitz was fairly dominant early on, as the Panthers struggled at the plate, swinging at the first pitch multiple times and hitting pop-ups on the infield. "We were hitting under the ball early on," said Rochon-Salvas. "We had a lot of pop-ups, but we were able to adjust later on."
Justin Newman (3-1) earned the win for the Panthers in relief, retiring the side in the ninth for the victory. Matt Stone (1-3) took the loss, giving up the run to Rochon-Salvas in the ninth after getting the last out of the eighth and the first out of the ninth.
"I told our guys coming in today that coming back after last night was going to be really hard," said State Head Coach Mike Hurst. "I told them after the game that after we fell down 6-1 and came back to win that this has to be one of the greatest wins in the history of our program just based on the amount of guts and character it took to come back and win.
Weather permitting, the two teams will play again tomorrow at The Field. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.
