ATLANTA -- Two costly errors and the powerful arm of pitcher Elizabeth Hyman were too much for the University of Delaware to overcome as the No. 4 seed Blue Hens opened the Colonial Athletic Association Softball Championships with a narrow 6-5 setback to host and top seed Georgia State Thursday afternoon at Heck Field.

Delaware (33-23) jumped out to a 4-2 lead after two innings thanks to big hits from shortstop Kim Ovittore (at right) and center fielder Katie Lee, but CAA regular season champion Georgia State (27-26) rallied with four runs in the fourth inning to take the lead and rode the arm of Hyman the rest of the way for the opening round win.

The Blue Hens will take on No. 3 seed UNC Wilmington in the elimination bracket of the double elimination tournament Friday at 10 a.m. Georgia State, a first-year member of the league, will take on the Hofstra, which defeated UNC Wilmington 19-0 in five innings in the other first round game Thursday. A third game will get under way at 3 p.m. with the championship set for Saturday at 12 noon. The winner earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Hyman, this year’s CAA Pitcher of the Year, struck out a tournament record 14 batters on the way to the win, overcoming the early deficit and seven Blue Hen hits on the day. She improved to 17-10 on the year while helping the Panthers win their fifth straight game.

GSU leftfielder Jamie Cagle knocked in three runs - on a first-inning single and a two-run double as part of a four-run fourth inning - to lead the Panthers. Jessie Harmon hit a solo home run to open the fourth inning and designated hitter Jessica Gowin had two hits and added an RBI single in the first frame to pace GSU.

Delaware took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Ovittore hit a solo home run with two outs - her team-leading fifth of the season. But GSU came back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning as Cagle and Gowin delivered RBI singles following an error by Delaware’s All-CAA second baseman Allison Borchers.

The Hens took a 4-2 lead in the second inning with three runs as Borchers walked with the bases loaded and Lee followed with a two-run single up the middle. Georgia State then took the lead for good with four runs in the fourth on Harmon’s home run and Cagle’s two-run doubles.

Delaware cut the lead to 6-5 in the fifth inning when Barb Traynor doubled and scored when Quinn Megargel singled and GSU centerfielder Lauren Morlock overthrew the catcher for an error. But Hyman then cruised the rest of the way, striking out Megargel and Jenny Gilkins to end the game.

UD junior pitcher Carolynn Sloat (19-15), who was vying to become the first Delaware pitcher to win 20 games in a season since Susan Dugan went 20-3 in 2000, suffered the loss despite allowing just one earned run in three and two-thirds innings.

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