NEWARK, Del. - Georgia State pitcher McCall Langford hurled a complete game shutout and junior Lauren Jones hit a three-run home run as the Panthers defeated Delaware, 5-0, in game one of a Saturday doubleheader. The Blue Hens overcame a GSU rally to win game two, 5-3.
Senior Danielle Roddy went 4-for-7 on the day with a run scored, which gave her 152 for her career, a new GSU record.
The Panthers (27-12, 6-2 CAA) will face off with the Blue Hens (11-21-1, 2-6 CAA) in the series finale Sunday at noon. The game can be followed on livestats.
Game One - Georgia State 5, Delaware 0
The Panthers went up early in the contest, scoring four in the first inning before the Blue Hens produced an out. After Danielle Roddy and Cassie Boese singled, freshman Audrey Mason reached first on a sacrifice bunt and error by the second baseman that also allowed Roddy to score from second. Jones next stepped up to bat and promptly slugged her team-leading eighth homer of the season, a three-run shot, to give the Panthers the early 4-0 lead.
GSU tallied a final run in the third inning after a fielding error by the shortstop allowed Jones to reach first and Boese to score.
That would be all Langford (10-1) needed, as she allowed only five hits and two walks, while striking out three, in tossing the shutout. Suffering the loss for Delaware was Amanda Stacevicz (6-9), who allowed three earned runs on five hits in pitching all seven innings.
Leading the way for the Panthers was Jones, who had a homer and three RBI. Roddy had a pair of hits and a run scored, which set a new GSU record for career runs scored (152), passing former Panther Corrie Roberts. The Woodstock, Ga., native now owns the walks and runs scored record and is in the top five in hits and doubles.
Game Two - Delaware 5, Georgia State 3
The Blue Hens scored two in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie to knock off GSU in game two. After Emily Wilcox doubled to right center to score Lindsay Novak, Cecile Egan singled through the left side to plate Jenny Richards to give the Blue Hens the 5-3 win.
Langford (10-2) suffered the loss after coming in relief of Erin Collins. The LaGrange, Ga., native allowed two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings worth of work. Collins, who replaced starter Heather Lowry, allowed only three hits in three innings of work, while Lowry allowed four hits and three runs (zero earned) in 1.2 innings pitched.
Down 3-0 heading into the fifth inning, the Panthers tied the game on a Paige Nowacki triple, that plated Jones, Mason and Rebecca Roles. Nowacki was 3-for-4 on the day with a triple and three RBI.
Delaware got off to a good start in game two scoring three runs in the second inning, to take a 3-0 lead. With two on and two outs, Novak reached first on an error by Roddy. Lowry then allowed a pair of singles that plated two runs. After Collins replaced Lowry, the Collins Hill, Ga., native promptly threw a wild pitch that allowed another runner to cross before finally closing out the inning.
Picking up the win for the Blue Hens was Bertie Lake (2-3), who allowed a hit in two-thirds of an inning of work. Anna Marie Pagano did the majority of the work allowing three runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of work. Richards went 3-for-3, while Wilcox went 2-for-4 with two RBI in the victory. Roddy had a pair of hits and Nowacki had three in the loss.
