ATLANTA, Ga. -- The Georgia State softball team split a pair of games on day one at the Springhill Suites Buckhead Classic rallying to beat Mercer, 3-2, in game one, before falling to Fordham, 5-1, in game two.
The Panthers (13-7) will return to Mewborn Field tomorrow where they will have a chance to avenge their Tuesday loss to No. 8 Georgia Tech at 11 a.m., before meeting the Rams at 4 p.m.
Game One - Georgia State 3, Mercer 2
Freshman Audrey Mason doubled to right field driving in the tying run before scoring the winning run on a Lauren Jones infield single as the Panthers rallied in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 3-2 victory over in-state rival Mercer in game one of the Springhill Suites Buckhead Classic.
Facing Mercer starting pitcher, Jenni Holtz, who struck out 14 batters in the contest, Mason knocked a double, advancing to third on the throw, while scoring senior Danielle Roddy to tie the ballgame at two. Jones immediately came to bat and laid down an infield single that scored Mason to give the Panthers their third walk-off win of the season, having also won in the last at-bat against Auburn and East Tennessee State. The contest marked the fourth one-run game the Panthers had played in this season, improving their record in those games to 3-1. Mason's double to tie the game was reminiscent of her two game-winning hits in the Siena games earlier in the season.
Holtz pitched all 6.1 innings, fanning a season-high 14 batters, while allowing six hits and two earned runs. Sophomore Erin Collins (2-2), who came in relief of starter McCall Langford, pitched two innings of no-hit ball. Langford hurled five innings allowing two runs on five hits earning the no decision.
Leading the way for the Panthers was Jones, who was 2-for-3 with the game-winning RBI. Roddy went 2-for-4, scoring the game-tying run, while Mason had a double and the winning run. In a losing effort, Lilli Luke was 1-for-3 with a homer and a RBI. Pinch hitter Emi Sherrill produced the other RBI.
The Panthers scored first in the contest after a pair of errors by second baseman Amanda Santa Maria allowed pinch runner Lauren Fetters to cross home plate. The Bears answered with a run in both the fifth and sixth innings to put Mercer ahead 2-1 entering the bottom of the seventh. A Luke homer in the fifth plated one run while a Sherrill hit scored the Bears' final run in the sixth. A Rebecca Roles' diving stop prevented another run from crossing the plate on Sherrill's hit.
Game Two - Fordham 5, Georgia State 1
Fordham pitchers Chelsea Plimpton and Jen Mineau combined to throw seven innings of 4-hit ball, while striking out 11, allowing only one Panther runner to cross the plate, as the Rams defeated GSU, 5-1.
The Rams jumped on starting pitcher Heather Lowry (2-1) early scoring three runs in the first inning. Jamie LaBovick got Fordham on the board as she bombed a 0-1 pitch over the left field fence, plating two. Later in the inning, Beckah Wiggins singled scoring Erin Fisher.
A solo homer by Fisher made the Rams' lead, 4-0, while a Wiggins solo homer in the seventh off relief pitcher Elizabeth Thomas stretched the lead to 5-0.
Despite the Panthers striking out 11 times against the Rams, GSU had opportunities to tie the game. In the fourth, Roddy and Mason both singled before Jones walked setting up bases loaded with no outs. However, three straight outs ended that scoring threat. GSU did score a run in the seventh on an error by the second baseman, that scored Cassie Boese but the game ended in the next at-bat with a Mason strikeout to end the contest.
Plimpton (1-2) pitched five innings allowing only three hits and no runs while striking out seven. Lowry (2-1) gave up nine hits and four runs in six innings while walking five.
Mason was 2-for-4 and was the only Panther with multiple hits. Wiggins went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a homer to lead Fordham, while LaBovick had a homer and two RBI.
