ATLANTA, Ga. (February 21, 2009) The Georgia State Softball team (3-5)defeated the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, 4-3, in extra innings in their first game of the Panther Invitational on Saturday and later fell, 2-1, to the Georgetown Hoyas. In other tournament action, Lipscomb defeated Eastern Kentucky, 6-2, and defeated Georgetown, 3-0.
Left fielder Tiffany Bess recorded the winning RBI against Eastern Kentucky in the bottom of the ninth inning and had three hits in four at-bats.
Batting in runs for the Panthers on day one were sophomores Bess, Lauren Jones, and Rebecca Roles and juniors Lily Skelton and Rachel Cunningham.
In game one against Eastern Kentucky, senior pitcher Madi Gore (1-3) pitched the full game and finished with six hits, three runs, and two errors. Gore struck out seven of 32 batters.
Freshman Alana Thomas (1-2) took the mound against Georgetown and pitched 4.5 innings without a hit. She finished the game with four hits and 2 runs, while walking one batter and striking out four.
The Panthers and the Colonels were evenly matched and battled through a 0-0 standstill for five innings. The Colonels were the first to score in the sixth, as catcher Jena Handley hit a two-run homer over the left field fence.
Georgia State did not let Eastern Kentucky keep the lead for long and responded in the bottom of the inning. After the first two outs, junior Lily Skelton and pinch runner Lauren Fetters advanced to second off of a single by second baseman, Rebecca Roles. Cunningham knocked a single to left field and Fetters crossed the plate for the first run. Pinch-running for Roles was junior Liz Thomas, who scored the second run off of Jones's single to the pitcher.
The game went into extra innings with the score tied at 2-2. The Colonels put another run on the board in the eighth inning freshman Brittani Gibson brought in an RBI. The Panthers once again responded in the bottom of the inning when Roles reached first base on an error from the right fielder and freshman Cassie Boese crossed the plate.
With the score tied at 3-3, play continued into the ninth inning. The Colonels were unable to score in the ninth and the Panthers capitalized on the opportunity and Bess singled to left field to allow runner Chelsea Sparks to cross the plate.
In game two, the Panthers were at a dead 0-0 with the Hoyas until the 6th inning until State was able to get a run on the board. Skelton singled to left center and allowed Holly Willis to cross the plate for the Panthers only run.
Georgetown scored both of their runs in the bottom of the 7th inning when shortstop Samantha Peters homered and freshman McKinley Cooper singled to drive in another RBI.
The Panther Invitational continues on Sunday at 10 a.m. when Georgetown and Eastern Kentucky face off and then at 12:15 p.m. when Georgia State takes on Lipscomb. The consolation and championship games will take place at 2:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m., respectively. Livestats and game recaps will be available at www.georgiastatesports.com.
