Post-Game Interviews
Freshman Audrey Mason
Junior Lauren Jones
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- Georgia State homered eight times including two each from Lauren Jones, Danielle Roddy and Lily Skelton as the Panthers swept UNC Wilmington, 11-1 and 14-8, to open CAA play.
The teams play a single game tomorrow at noon to complete the three-game series.
GSU set a number of season highs today, including runs scored (14), runs in a doubleheader (25), home runs (8), hits in a doubleheader (28) and RBI (13).
Freshman Audrey Mason went 6-for-9 with a homer, four RBI and five runs scored in the two games, while junior Lauren Jones was 4-for-6 with two homers, six RBI and five runs scored.
The Panthers improve to 18-9 (2-0 CAA), while the Seahawks fall to 5-19 (0-2 CAA).
Game One - Georgia State 11, UNC Wilmington 1 (5)
Georgia State scored four runs in the third and five in the fifth to propel the Panthers to an 11-1 five-inning victory over UNC Wilmington in game one.
The Panthers scored four runs in the third off several Seahawk mental errors. After a Mason single and stolen base, Lauren Jones singled, advancing Mason to third. As Jones was stealing second a throwing error by the catcher Stacey Pinno allowed Mason to score. Catcher Lily Skelton advanced to first on an error by the second baseman Morgan Walters advancing Jones to third. In a strange play, first baseman Katie Houmard decided to pass up tagging out batter Rachel Cunningham to make a late throw home, allowing a run to score and Cunningham to advance to first on a fielder's choice. A Rebecca Roles single to right field scored two runs and ended the Panthers scoring for the inning.
Despite the Seahawks trying a new pitcher in Amanda Davenport, GSU was able to score five in the fifth to put the game out of reach. As in the third inning, errors hurt the Seahawks. After Paige Nowacki reached on an error, Roles and Jones both singled to load the bases. After a pair of fielder's choices put out runners trying to score, but kept the bases loaded, Mason again came through with a single to right field that scored two runs. Jones next came up and crushed a three-run homer to left center to push the lead to 11-1 before the inning ended.
Mason and Jones led the way for the Panthers. Mason was 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI, while Jones went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI. Roles was 2-for-3 with two RBI. The team also had a season-high four stolen bases in the contest.
Thomas (4-2), in her first action in over two weeks, threw the five-inning complete game allowing only three hits and one run. Suffering the loss was Samme Lisowsky (2-8), who allowed six runs (two earned) on eight hits. In relief, Davenport allowed five runs on four hits.
The Panthers got on the board in the first when Mason knocked her third homer of the season to give the Panthers the early 1-0 lead. GSU also scored a single run in the fourth when Skelton doubled off the center-field fence, scoring Jones to push the lead to 6-0.
Wilmington appeared to have gotten to Thomas a bit in the fourth, with runners on the corners with no outs, but some excellent fielding by Cunningham and Roles allowed the Panthers to escape the inning, surrendering only one run.
Game Two - Georgia State 14, UNC Wilmington 8
The Panthers knocked a season-high seven home runs in game two and weathered a late UNC Wilmington rally to complete the doubleheader sweep, 14-8.
Roddy and Skelton each hit two homers and Tiffany Bess and Jones added one apiece as the Panthers scored multiple runs in the first, second, sixth and seventh innings.
Roddy was 4-for-5 with two homers and three RBI, while Jones was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Skelton had two homers and two RBI, while Roles added two RBI and Mason had three hits. Picking up the win was freshman McCall Langford (7-1), who pitched 4.2 innings allowing three earned runs on seven hits. Amanda Aditays (1-7) suffered the loss after giving up 11 earned runs on 16 hits as she went the distance.
As in the first game, the Panthers scored early picking up a pair of runs in the first inning. After Mason singled and Jones and Skelton reached base on an error and hit by pitch, respectively, Roles singled up the middle scoring two runs.
The Panthers picked up five runs in the second as Mason and Jones again came through for GSU. Mason doubled to center field scoring Emily Whitaker, while Jones hit her second homer of the day and her sixth of the season, a three-run shot. GSU went back-to-back as Skelton hit a solo shot, her sixth of the season, to stretch the lead to 7-0.
In the third, Tiffany Bess took the first pitch of the inning and sent it over the center field fence to extend the Panthers lead to 8-0.
UNCW rallied of sorts in the fifth. One out away from being run ruled, the Seahawks scored four runs to narrow GSU's lead to 8-4.
However, the Panthers hit their fourth and fifth homers of the contest and sixth of the day to again extend the lead to seven at 11-4. Both Danielle Roddy and Skelton hit homers in the inning. Roddy's, a solo shot, while Skelton's was a two-run shot, her second of the contest and seventh on the season.
After a single run crossed the plate for UNCW in the sixth, the Panthers scored three more runs to push the lead to 14-5. Cassie Boese hit a bloop single to score Whitaker and Roddy hit her second home run in as many innings, scoring two runs.
