ATLANTA -- The Georgia State (4-2) softball team split a pair of games with rival Georgia Southern (3-3) on Wednesday afternoon, dropping game one, 2-1, before claiming game two, 3-2. Head coach Bob Heck inched one game closer to 700 career victories as he now sits at 699 wins.
Freshman Jessica Clifton led the way for GSU with four hits and an RBI, while junior Alana Thomas picked up the win in game two, allowing only one run on one hit.
GSU returns to action this weekend when it welcomes Appalachian State, Lipscomb and Memphis for the Panther Invitational. The Panthers open the tournament against Lipscomb Saturday at 12:15 p.m.
GAME TWO - Georgia State 3, Georgia Southern 2
Whitney Phillips drove in a pair of runs and junior pitcher Alana Thomas allowed only one hit and one earned run as the Panthers defeated Georgia Southern, 3-2, in game two of the Wednesday doubleheader.
The Panthers jumped on the Eagles early, picking up a pair of runs in the first. With runners on first and second, Phillips hit a pop fly that dropped in short right center for a single, scoring Paige Nowacki and Audrey Mason.
GSU added an insurance run in the fourth when Mason crushed the first pitch of the inning over the left center field wall for her first homer of the season.
The Eagles tried to rally in the sixth with a pair of runs, but freshman pitcher Kaitlyn Medlam shut the door on Ga. Southern's chances in the seventh by striking out the side on nine pitches, including six swinging strikes. The Bethlehem, Ga., product earned her first save after picking up a pair of victories this past weekend.
Thomas (1-1) went 5.1 innings, allowing only a hit and an earned run while fanning four.
GAME ONE - Georgia Southern 2, Georgia State 1
Megen Smith's single in the fifth inning to score Kelly Burnett provided the winning margin as the Georgia Southern Eagles defeated the Georgia State Panthers, 2-1, in game one of the Wednesday doubleheader.
After Burnett knocked a double to left center, Smith singled to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
The Panthers out-hit the Eagles eight to six but several baserunning mistakes cost GSU a shot at plating runs. In the second, GSU rallied with two outs to put runners on first and second. Clifton stepped to the plate and promptly knocked a double to left center, easily plating pinch runner Carrie Williams. However, catcher Maddy Stanton tried to score from first and was easily tossed out at home plate. In the fifth, GSU placed runners on first and third with no outs, but pinch hitter Christina Reed hit into a fielder's choice as pinch runner Brenna Morrissey was tagged out at home. Finally, in the seventh slap hitter Cassie Boese reached first on an infield single before getting tossed out at second trying to steal, ending the game.
Boese and Clifton each produced a pair of hits, with Clifton driving in the lone GSU run. In a losing effort, sophomore pitcher McCall Langford (0-1) notched a career high in strikeouts with nine. The LaGrange, Ga., native went the distance allowing two runs on six hits. Ga. Southern pitcher Brianna Streetmon (2-1) picked up the win.
