What you need to know:
* Georgia State defeated East Carolina 4-3 and Villanova 5-2 to finish 4-0 over the weekend.
* Taylor Thorpe won her fifth game to remain undefeated while Katie Worley picked up win No. 2.
* GSU has won eight straight and will look to continue the momentum against Mercer on Wednesday, March 4.
CLEARWATER, Fla. – With wins over East Carolina and Villanova on Sunday, the Georgia State softball team finished 4-0 in the USF Under Armour Invitational to improve to 11-2 overall. GSU has won eight straight.
“Once again we had two great performances from our starting pitchers,” head coach Roger Kincaid said. “We jumped out to a lead in both games and we were able to do enough to come away with two wins.”
Ivie Drake went 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and one RBI. Megan Litumbe finished with three hits, a home run, two runs scored and she drove in three. Kensey Caldwell drove in three against Villanova and Alford homered against East Carolina.
Game 1
Thanks to four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, Georgia State held on to defeat East Carolina 4-3 on the final day of the USF Under Armour Invitational.
Taylor Thorpe pitched six innings and allowed three runs on four hits en route to her team-leading fifth win of the season. She also remained undefeated and improved to 5-0 this season. Thorpe opened the game with four-straight 1-2-3 innings.
After three scoreless innings of their own, the Panthers grabbed a 4-0 lead after four. Drake opened the GSU half of the fourth with a single before Alford launched her team-high sixth homer of the season to put Georgia State ahead 2-0. After Luren Coleman walked, Litumbe launched a two-run bomb of her own to give the Panthers a 4-0 cushion.
Thorpe carried a shutout into the final frame after making quick work of the ECU side in both the fifth and sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, the Pirates used three hits in a row to score one and make it a 4-1 game. Chelsea Stanfield then replaced Thorpe. ECU scored two more runs before Stanfield escaped a bases loaded jam to secure the win and earn her first save of the season.
Game 2
The Panthers scored four in the bottom of the first, which proved to be enough to earn the 5-2 win over Villanova to finish the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record.
Katie Worley picked up her second win of the season after scattering four hits and allowed two runs, one earned, over five innings of work. The victory was her second of the weekend and helped her remain unbeaten (2-0).
Taylor Anderson opened the first inning with single and then stole second. Drake then hit a one-out single to left to score Anderson. Alford then drew a walked before Litumbe drove in Drake with a single. Caldwell capped the inning with a two-RBI double to right center to put the Panthers up 4-0 after one.
After a scoreless second, the Wildcats got one run back in the third to cut the GSU lead to 4-1. Neither team scored in the fourth of the fifth frame. In the sixth, Villanova's first three batters reach and one scored before Thorpe replaced Worley.
Thorpe then forced the Wildcats to strand two to escape the jam. Georgia State added an insurance run in the sixth Caldwell plated Coleman with a sacrifice fly. Thorpe then retired the Villanova side in order in the seventh to secure the 5-2 win and recorded her first save.
GSU returns to the field on Wednesday, March 4 for a doubleheader against Mercer in Macon, Ga. Follow along with Georgia State on Twitter (@GSU_Softball) and Facebook for the latest news. For softball season tickets call 404-403-4020 or click here.
