What you need to know:
* Georgia State plays five games in Clearwater, Fla., this weekend as part of the USF Series Tournament.
* The Panthers will face Villanova, Seton Hall Eastern Michigan in the five contests.
* All five games will be played at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.
ATLANTA – Georgia State's softball team, winners of five of its last six games, travels to Clearwater, Fla., this weekend to compete in the USF Series Tournament against Eastern Michigan, Seton Hall and Villanova.
Georgia State (5-6) won is midweek contest against Big East-foe St. John's on Wednesday night with a walkoff walk. Now GSU will face two more Big East opponents in Seton Hall (8-2) and Villanova (1-4). Eastern Michigan (4-6) and GSU met three times last year with the Panthers taking two of the three while outscoring the Eagles 24-14.
Sophomore Ivie Drake homered for the fourth time this season on Wednesday, pushing her up to t-ninth in the country in home runs. Mandy Blackwell leads the team in RBI with eight. GSU has two pitchers with sub-3.00 ERA's in Annie Davis (2.22) and Katie Worley (2.33). Worley threw her second career no-hitter last weekend against Miami (Ohio) and was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week.
Schedule (home team in bold):
Friday - Georgia State vs. Villanova – 4:30 p.m.
Friday – Georgia State vs. Eastern Michigan – 6:45 p.m.
Saturday – Georgia State vs. Seton Hall – 2 p.m.
Saturday – Georgia State vs. TBD – 4:30 p.m.
Sunday – Georgia State vs. TBD – 10 a.m.
Scouting Report:
The Pirates are off to their best start through 10 games since the 2004 season. The Hall has gone 4-1 in each of its first two tournaments, picking up strong results both at the season-opening Louisiana Monroe Mardi Gras Classic and the Kickin' Chicken Classic at Coastal Carolina.
Villanova lost its four games of the year before defeating Siena 11-0 last Sunday. Overall, Lauren Herschberg leads the team in batting average at .500 and holds the team lead in RBI's with seven. In pitching stats, Kate Poppe leads the team in ERA at 2.03 and has 27 strikeouts on the young season.
Piecing together a 4-1 record at the Madeira Beach Invitational, the Eagles were winners of the invitational by tie breaker. Freshman Nicolle Miranda was named Mid-American Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week, Feb. 23, after leading the Eagles at the tournament.
Notes:
Senior pitcher Katie Worley is 11 strikeouts short of 300 for her career. Worley currently sits in ninth on GSU's all-time strikeout list and needs 304 to climb into eighth.
Ivie Drake has 15 walks this season, giving her the fourth-highest walks-per-game ratio in the country. No other Panthers has more than five walks so far in 2016.
Georgia State has wins in 2016 against Maryland (Big Ten), Miami (MAC), Georgia Tech (ACC) and St. John's (Big East).
GSU has gone 5-1 since the opening weekend with the only loss coming against No. 5 Alabama.
In 2015, the Panthers committed 38 errors. Georgia State has already made 26 errors through the first 11 contests.
Follow along with Georgia State on Twitter (@GSU_Softball) for the latest news.
