ATLANTA – Georgia State's softball team used a pair of gritty pitching performances to take both games of a doubleheader Saturday against Coastal Carolina at the Bob Heck Softball Complex. GSU improved to 25-10 (10-9 Sun Belt) with the wins and have now won six straight conference contests.
Game 1: GSU 4, CCU 2
Ivie Drake belted her 62nd career home run to lead off the bottom of the first for the Panthers. GSU would score two in the inning to hold a 2-0 lead after one.
Drake then tripled in the bottom of the second, scoring Brenna Skalski all the way from first to make it 3-0, GSU.
A Kirsten McMonigle single made it 4-0, Panthers, in the second inning, giving starting pitcher Mandy Chance all the run support she would need.
Chance threw 6.1 innings, holding Coastal Carolina to just two runs on five hits. Chance earned her ninth win of the season.
Kinsley Jennings recorded the final two outs for her fourth save of the year.
GSU's 4-2 victory in Game 1 was the fifth straight Sun Belt win for the Panthers.
Game 2: GSU 6, CCU 3
Georgia State struck first again in Game 2, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning off a freak play.
With runners on first and second, Ivie Drake launched a fly ball to deep left field. Coastal Carolina's left fielder jumped over the fence and nearly robbed Drake of a home run, with the ball coming out of her glove over the fence. As the left fielder nearly made the catch, GSU's runner on first retreated to the base to tag up, and Drake passed the runner on her way to second.
By rule, Drake was awarded a single but called out and both runs scored, crediting Drake with a pair of RBI.
Coastal Carolina took its only lead of the day with three runs in the top of the fifth, but Georgia State had one more big inning in them.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Remington Hasty hit a solo home run to tie the game.
Later in the inning, Kirsten McMonigle flied out to center field, allowing Baylee Sexton to tag from third to give GSU a 4-3 lead.
The next batter, Megan Litumbe, then launched career home run No. 60, a two-run shot to left field to put the Panthers up 6-3.
Kinsley Jennings threw all seven innings in the win, improving to 11-9. Jennings struck out six and allowed just three runs on only four hits.
Georgia State and Coastal Carolina will play the series finale Sunday. Due to weather, first pitch for Game 3 o the series has been moved up to 11 a.m. There will still be a free audio stream available for the game through GeorgiaStateSports.com and on mobile devices through the GSU Athletics app.
