What you need to know:
* Megan Litumbe blasted her 21st home run of the season to lift the Panthers to the 8-6 win.
* Georgia State scored the first eight runs of the game before UL Monroe's late six-run rally fell short.
* GSU will face No. 2 seed South Alabama at 5 p.m. today.
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Megan Litumbe homered and Lauren Coleman drove in two runs as Georgia State held on to defeat UL Monroe 8-6 to advance to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Only three teams remain alive at this point.
GSU plated six runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth before ULM scored the final six runs of the game to make it a nervous final-inning finish for the Panthers.
The Panthers (38-21) will face No. 2 seed South Alabama in the second semifinal of the Sun Belt Conference Championship later Friday at 5 p.m. That will be an elimination game, leaving the field at just two teams Friday evening. No. 1 seed UL Lafayette is in the championship game.
Litumbe, a sophomore from Grayon, Ga. (Brookwood High School) finished with two RBI and one run scored to go with her 21st home run of the year and the team's 102nd round tripper.
Coleman smacked a two-RBI double and scored one. Both Litumbe and Coleman have 60 RBI on the season. Morgan Brown was 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored while Alford drove in one. Seven Panthers scored in the game, led by Taylor Anderson who scored twice.
ULM threatened in the top of the first but GSU starter Katie Worley escaped the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to keep the game scoreless. The Panthers then blew the game open with six runs in the third. Taylor Bradley opened the scoring before back-to-back RBI doubles by Alford and Coleman drove in three. Litumbe then capped the inning with a two-run bomb over the left-field fence.
With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Georgia State pushed its lead to 8-0 after Brown and Anderson scored on a dropped pop-up by UL Monroe second baseman Miyuki Navarrete.GSU looked to end the game early with the eight-run rule heading into the fifth inning.
However, the Warhawks responded with four runs in the fifth to make it 8-4 and extend the game.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Alexis Cacioppo hit a two-run homer in the seventh to make it a two-run game. An error and a walk put the tying run on base before Taylor Thorpe retired the next three batters to end the threat, post the save and secure the GSU win. Worley picked up her 14th win of the season.
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