What you need to know:
* Georgia State (29-17, 8-9, SBC) split the Saturday doubleheader at UT Arlington, winning Game 1 6-1 and falling in Game 2 5-2.
* The Panthers trailed 1-0 before hitting four homeruns in the sixth inning of Game 1 to take a 6-1 lead. UT Arlington trailed 2-0 in Game 2 before scoring five runs in the sixth inning.
* The two sides remain tied for fifth in the conference standings and will play for the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
ARLINGTON, Texas – Georgia State launched four home runs in the sixth inning of Game 1 in a 6-1 win over UT Arlington, but gave up five runs in the sixth inning of Game 2, leading to a split of Saturday's doubleheader.
“Our offense was slow to get going in the first game but we had a great sixth inning,” head coach Roger Kincaid said. “Thorpe pitches well and finished strong. We had scoring chances early in Game 2 and did not push any runs across. After we scored two in the sixth, we had a bad bottom half. We just did not finish well. I thought Worley pitched good enough to win, but we have to do a better job of closing it out.”
Game 1
Game 1 was going UTA's way before the big GSU sixth. The Mavericks had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the first, but Taylor Thorpe battled through the jam to keep UTA off the board. The Mavericks had the bases loaded again in the third and again Thorpe did a good job of damage control, allowing just one run to come in. The Panther offense supported Thorpe with a huge sixth inning, blasting four home runs to score six on seven hits.
The inning started with a Taylor Anderson single. With her team trailing by one, Ivie Drake launched her 17th deep fly of the season to catapult GSU into a 2-1 lead. Callie Alford hit another 2-run homer to put the Panthers up 4-1, still with just one out in the inning. UT Arlington made a pitching change, but Lauren Coleman continued the onslaught with a solo shot, her 10th of the season. Now with two outs, Kensey Caldwell decided to join the party with a solo blast of her own to make it a 6-run inning. The four homeruns in an inning is a season high.
The five-run lead was plenty for Thorpe who went the distance and allowed one run on seven hits. Thorpe is now 16-4 on the year.
Game 2
Katie Worley took to the circle in Game 2 and got off to a strong start. Worley didn't allow a hit until a two-out knock in the third and only allowed two baserunners in the first five frames. Once again, Drake came through for the Panthers in the sixth inning. She broke the 0-0 tie in Game 2 with a double off the top of the wall that scored Christy from first. Coleman added on with an RBI double of her own to put the Panthers up 2-0.
They couldn't hold on, however, as UT Arlington returned the favor with a five-run bottom half of the inning. With runners on second and third after a walk and hit-by-pitch, UTA finally got a run as Worley had a pitch get away from her. The Mavs tied it up with a single to left and then blew it open with a single and a two-run homer.
Down 5-2, Georgia State was retired in order in the top of the 7th as the Mavericks evened the series.
Georgia State (29-17, 8-9 SBC) and UT Arlington (26-20, 8-9 SBC) remain tied at fifth in the Sun Belt standings. The two squads are back at it to decide the series Sunday at 1 p.m.
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