By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

CARTERSVILLE – The Troup Lady Tigers are headed to state.

Troup overwhelmed Cartersville 11-3 on Tuesday in the decisive third game in their best-of-three Region 5-AAAA softball playoff series.

The teams split a pair of games on Saturday, setting up Tuesday’s winner-take-all game.

Troup will host Cedartown on Thursday, with the winner earning the region’s number three seed for the state playoffs, while the loser will be seeded fourth.

Win or lose, Troup has earned its invitation to the state playoffs, and it will be on the road for a first-round matchup.

Troup’s offense overpowered Cartersville in Tuesday’s game.

The Lady Tigers pounded out 11 hits and reached double digits in runs for the second time in the series.

Troup opened the series with a 10-9 win before Cartersville won the second game 12-6 to force a third game.

Kayla Lane, who had a monster series for Troup, had three hits with a pair of doubles and five RBIs.

In the first game of the series, Lane had three hits and six RBIs, and she had a grand slam and four RBIs in the second game.

In the three games combined, Lane had six hits and 15 RBIs.

In Tuesday’s game, Skye Loftin Troup’s Skye Loftin had three hits and two RBIs, and Hadleigh Livingston had two hits, a pair of walks and an RBI.

Maddie Livingston had a hit and two RBIs, Christina Garcia drove in a run, and Abby Taylor and Olivia McInvale each had one hit.

Mackenzie Miller was terrific on the pitcher’s mound, throwing a complete game and limiting Cartersville to six hits and two earned runs.

Cedartown beat LaGrange on Monday to advance.

Cedartown won both regular-season meetings against Troup, winning the first game 14-8 before taking the rematch 10-5.