ATLANTA, Ga. -- Georgia State senior Rachel Cunningham hit a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the eighth inning to score junior Lauren Jones and clinch a 6-5 come-from-behind win for the Panthers over the Auburn Tigers on Wednesday night at Panthersville in the season opener for GSU.
Jones, having been placed on second base due to the international tiebreaker rule, scored the winning run after Cunningham laid down a sacrifice bunt and second baseman Lauren Guzman dropped the ball at first base attempting to put out Cunningham.
The Panthers, trailing 5-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, scored four runs to tie the game at five and send it to extra innings. Junior Tiffany Bess started the rally after taking a Lauren Schmalz pitch and sending it over the left field wall to bring the score to 5-3. Following an Emily Whitaker walk and a Cassie Boese single, freshman Whitney Phillips hit her second triple of the day to plate two runs and tie the score at five.
Bess' fielding in the top of the eighth saved a run for the Panthers allowing one run to win the game for GSU in the bottom half of the inning. The Watkinsville, Ga., native snared a Katie Colton fly out to left field before gunning out Kyndall White at the plate to end the inning.
"I am so pleased with how we hung with it and won this game," said head coach Bob Heck. "We showed a lot of heart today. We have a lot we can work on but we are really happy to get a win over a quality opponent to open the season."
Georgia State (1-0) won its first game over Auburn (3-3) since a 7-6 victory during the 1999 season.
Picking up the win for the Panthers was freshman McCall Langford (1-0). Langford allowed one run on three hits after making the first appearance of her career in relief of junior Heather Lowry in the seventh inning. Picking up the loss for the Tigers was Thompson (1-2).
Leading the way for the Panthers at the plate was Phillips, who was 2-for-3 with two triples and three RBI. Boese earned two walks and one hit while scoring two runs. Bess was 1-for-1 with the key home run and two RBI. In a losing effort, Kelsey Cartwright was 3-for-4, while Harrison had four RBI.
GSU got the scoring started in the bottom of the third inning after Phillips hit her first triple of the day plating Boese.
Auburn got on the board in the fifth scoring four runs to surge ahead of the Panthers, 4-1. With the score tied at one, Amber Harrison knocked a double to center field, scoring three. The Tigers added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to push the lead to 5-1 before GSU rallied.
The Panthers return to action this weekend when they host the Panther Invitational. GSU welcomes East Tennessee State, Eastern Illinois and Temple and begins play on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. when they face off against the Owls.
