What you need to know:
* Georgia State (23-22, 6-8 SBC) is at Appalachian State for a three-game Saturday-Sunday Sun Belt series.
* GSU now leads the all-time series with a 10-3 record vs. the Mountaineers.
* The two teams will play will play the finale at noon on Sunday.
BOONE, N.C. – Georgia State exploded for 26 runs in a doubleheader sweep of conference-foe Appalachian State Saturday, winning Game 1 15-0 (6) and Game 2 11-9. GSU tallied a total of 28 hits in the two contests as the Panthers moved up for fifth place in the Sun Belt standings with the wins.
Game 1 | GSU 15, APP 0 (6)
Georgia State struck for four runs in the second inning. Three straight singles loaded the bases for Brenna Skalski with one out. Skalski sent a bounced to the right side that deflected off the first baseman's glove and bounced into right field. The right fielder's throw to home was wide of the cut and went all the way to the backstop, allowing all three runs to come home and Skalski to advance to third. Ivie Drake then rocketed a two-out single off the top of the wall in center field that scored Skalski to put the Panthers on top 4-0.
Georgia State added two runs in the top of the fifth on three hits. Drake doubled to right-center field to start things off. Reagan Morgan then singled and moved to second on a fielder's choice. The second pitch to Mandy Blackwell got past the catcher, allowing Drake to score from third. Two pitches later, Blackwell lined a single that brought Morgan home to make it a 6-0 game.
The Panthers added insurance in the sixth. After three straight walks to load the bases, Drake blasted her 11th home run of the season, a grand slam to right-center. Drake's second career grand slam gave her sole possession of second place on GSU's career home run list with 33, five shy of Callie Alford's 38. That would just be the start of the inning, however, as the Panthers would go on to score nine runs on just five hits. App State walked seven batters in the frame.
Katie Worley picked up her 10th win of the season, going four full and giving up no runs on three hits. The senior now has at least 10 wins in three of her four years at GSU. Amanda Chance came on in relief and held App to one hit in two innings of work.
Game 2 | GSU 11, APP 9
Georgia State grabbed a 1-0 lead with Taylor Anderson's two-out RBI-single in the first inning. Heading into the home half, GSU's pitchers had held opponents scoreless for 19 innings in a row. During that stretch, the Panthers outscored opponents 33-0. The streak came to an end in the bottom of the first as the Mountaineers took their first lead of the series with a three-run home run with two outs.
Down 3-1, the Panthers rallied in the next inning. With two outs, freshman Remington Hasty singled, her third hit in as many at-bats. That brought Drake up to the plate who hit her 12th home run of the season, tying the game at 3-3. The two RBI put Drake at 101 for her career, seventh most in GSU history.
Appalachian State retook the lead with a solo home run in the third that chased starting pitcher Annie Davis. Chance came in to pitch and went the remaining five innings, giving up two runs on only two hits.
GSU scored two runs in the top of the fourth off the bats of Caldwell and Blackwell. Caldwell doubled to score the game-tying run and Blackwell put the Panthers on top with an RBI-single to right.
The Panthers then put the game out of reach with a six-spot in the fifth inning. GSU scored six runs on five hits, highlighted by Caldwell's seventh long ball of the year. Her three-run home run helped the Panthers lead 11-4 heading into the home half of the inning.
Appalachian State made things interesting in the final innings, scoring two runs in the fifth and three in the seventh to pull within two.
Georgia State improves to 23-22 (6-8 SBC) with the Saturday sweep and will face the Mountaineers for a third and final time Sunday at noon.
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