POSTGAME INTERVIEWS
Freshman Audrey Mason
Senior Danielle Roddy
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Freshman Audrey Mason belted a walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Georgia State softball team to a 3-1 victory over Towson in game one of a Colonial Athletic Association doubleheader Friday at Bob Heck Field. In game two, both Danielle Roddy and Mason went 3-for-3 with three RBI as the Panthers claimed the 11-5 victory.
With the two wins, the Panthers (34-17, 13-7 CAA) lock up the No. 2 seed in next week's CAA Tournament. GSU will open against the No. 3 seed on Wednesday at a time to be determined. Towson (33-20, 10-10 CAA) has locked up a tournament spot, but its seed is still to be determined.
The two teams close out the regular season Saturday with a single game at noon, which will be available via livestats.
Game One - Georgia State 3, Towson 1
With the score tied at 1-1, the Panthers' first two batters of the seventh inning were retired before Cassie Boese legged out an infield single to keep the inning alive. Mason, a freshman from Kennesaw, Ga., smacked the 1-1 pitch down the left field line for her fourth homer of the season to give the Panthers the 3-1 victory.
The Panthers trailed 1-0 in the sixth inning when senior Lily Skelton started a two-out rally with a single to right. After Whitney Phillips singled, senior Rachel Cunningham tied the game with a bloop single to shallow center, scoring pinch-runner Emily Whitaker from second base.
Freshman McCall Langford (14-3) earned the victory with three scoreless innings in relief of starter Elizabeth Thomas, who allowed five hits and one run in four innings of work.
Towson picked up its lone run in the first inning, when Stef Streets lined into a double play to end the inning, but Rachel Miller scored before the last out.
Game Two - Georgia State 11, Towson 5
A six-run fifth inning pushed a 5-4 game to 11-4 as GSU swept the Friday Senior Day doubleheader from Towson. The Panthers banged out 13 hits, including five doubles.
Roddy and Mason led the way for the Panthers, each going 3-for-3 with three RBI. Rebecca Roles also went 3-for-3 with a RBI.
Sophomore pitcher Alana Thomas (11-5) picked up the win, going four innings while allowing two earned runs on eight hits.
GSU got on the board early with a Mason double that scored Roddy that gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead after one inning.
Towson answered with two runs in the third before GSU responded with a single run in the bottom half of the third inning to tie the contest at two.
After a pair of Tiger runs pushed Towson's lead to 4-2, GSU scored three to take the lead for good. After Paige Nowacki was hit by a pitch, to score Tiffany Bess, Mason singled down the left field line to score Roles and Roddy.
Batting around the lineup in the fifth produced six runs, highlighted by a double each by Roddy and Jones, that each scored two runs.
Relievers Langford and Erin Collins closed out the Tigers over the last three innings to preserve the win.
