What you need to know:
* Georgia State improved to 8-7 on the year with two wins on Saturday.
* The Panthers beat Seton Hall 10-7 and Eastern Michigan 5-0.
* GSU will take on Villanova Sunday at 10 a.m. in the final game of the USF Series Tournament.
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Georgia State's softball team improved to 8-7 on the season with wins against Seton Hall and Eastern Michigan Saturday to advance to the USF Series Tournament Final in Clearwater, Fla.
In the Seton Hall game, the Panthers rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat the Pirates 10-7. Georgia State gave up three runs in the top of the third to fall behind 4-0, but GSU put seven runs of their own on the board in the bottom of the fifth thanks to some Seton Hall defensive miscues. Taylor Thorpe, who was credited with the win in the circle, had a single and a two-RBI double in that productive fifth frame. Thorpe (2-2, 4.58) entered the game in relief of starter Katie Worley and threw 4.2 innings, allowing just one earned run. Sophomore Brenna Skalski went 3-for-4 in the game with three runs scores.
GSU's win gave the Panthers the No. 2 seed at the completion of round robin play, pitting GSU against Eastern Michigan in the semifinal. Annie Davis (2-2, 2.38) was dominant in the second game of the day, earning a complete-game shutout and holding the Eagles to just three hits. Mandy Blackwell was 1-for-4 with three RBI, increasing her team-leading total to 15 on the season.
Villanova defeated Seton Hall in the other semifinal game and will face the Panthers in the tournament final Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
Schedule (home team in bold):
Friday - Georgia State vs. Villanova – L, 15-2
Friday – Georgia State vs. Eastern Michigan – W, 11-0
Saturday – Georgia State vs. Seton Hall – W, 10-7
Saturday (Semifinal) – Georgia State vs. Eastern Michigan – W, 5-0
Sunday (Final) – Georgia State vs. Villanova – 10 a.m.
Notes:
With five strikeouts in two appearance this weekend, senior pitcher Katie Worley is 6 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 20 walks this season. Entering the weekend, Drake had the fourth-highest walks-per-game ratio in the country. No other Panther has more than six walks so far in 2016.
Georgia State has wins in 2016 against teams from the Big Ten (Maryland), MAC (Miami), ACC (Georgia Tech) and the Big East (St. John's).
GSU has gone 8-2 since the opening weekend with the only losses coming against No. 5 Alabama and Villanova.
Follow along with Georgia State on Twitter (@GSU_Softball) for the latest news.
