What you need to know:
* GSU career home run leader Callie Alford and fellow senior Lauren Coleman both homered in the loss at Georgia.
* Next up is the Panthers' final home Sun-Belt series against UL Monroe. The series begins with a doubleheader on Friday, April 24 at 3 p.m.
* GSU will honor its six seniors before the series finale on Sunday, April 26 at noon.
ATHENS, Ga. – Lauren Coleman and Callie Alford both launched three-run homers but it was not enough as Georgia State fell to No. 14 Georgia 15-6 in five innings on Wednesday night at Jack Turner Stadium. The Panthers drop to 30-18 on the season while the Bulldogs improve to 36-13.
“I am extremely proud of Callie and Lauren for stepping up on a big stage tonight. They both tried to will us to a victory but unfortunately we made some uncharacteristic defensive mistakes. Those mistakes cost us some runs and extended some innings, which in the end was the difference.”
Host Georgia jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after one inning, thanks to a pair of singles and one Panther error. After a scoreless second, Georgia State respond with three runs in the top of the third on Callie Alford's 37th career home run.
Ashley Christy started the rally with a one-out, bunt single. Megan Litumbe then singled to put two on for Alford, who launched an opposite-field line drive over the fence in right field. The homer was her 14th of 2015 and pushes her RBI total to 50, the third-highest single-season total in GSU history.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 10 runs with nine runs in the bottom of the fourth, including six runs scored with two outs. Kaylee Puailoa drove in four on a home run and single, Tina Iosefa homered, while Paige Wilson and Samantha LaZear also drove in runs.
In the top of the fifth, GSU scored three more runs on Lauren Coleman's 11th home run of the season to cut Georgia's lead to 13-6. Ivie Drake singled through the left side, Alford drew a two-out walk and then Coleman launched a moonshot over the deep center field fence.
However, in the bottom of the fifth, Alex Hugo hit a walk-off two run homer to center to give the Bulldogs the 15-6 run-rule victory. The Panthers return to their home field in Panthersville on Friday, April 26 at 3 p.m. for a doubleheader with UL Monroe in GSU's finale home conference series of the season.
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