VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State softball team extended their winning streak to 13 on Tuesday afternoon at Steel's Diamond with a pair of regional wins (4-0, 3-2) over Florida Tech in Valdosta, Ga.
 
Brandy Morgan, the reigning Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Week, served as the hero in a thrilling game-two win after delivering a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Panthers elected to walk VSU cleanup hitter Fran Johnson to pitch to Morgan, and the freshman came through with a bases-loaded chopper that made its way into the outfield and scored Jaime Phillips.
 
Phillips served as the Blazers' leadoff hitter in the place of the injured Courtney Albritton, and sparked the game-winning rally in the seventh with a leadoff walk, before moving up on a bunt single by Halie Imler and a sacrifice bunt by Kiley Rusen.
 
Huntyre Elling twirled four perfect innings before allowing the Panthers to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth with back-to-back squeeze bunts. Third baseman Taylor Peterson and catcher Nicole Shinsky both scored in the frame after leading the inning off with a walk and a double, respectively.
 
Elling induced a pop-up to keep the game tied up, but was forced to give way to Maci Fletcher in the sixth with two on and one out. Fletcher took a gamble on a comebacker to cut down the lead runner at third base for the second out of the inning, but the Panthers loaded the bases on the next at-bat, when Phillips was unable to get an out at third base on a Peterson grounder. Fletcher denied the Panthers one batter later, when she forced Shinsky to ground out to third for the final out.
 
Fletcher's effort allowed the sophomore to pick up her fourth win of the year against just one loss.
 
"We told the girls that this is going to take a team effort," said Head Coach Thomas Macera after the sweep. "We're not asking one person to hit .500 or try to single-handedly pull [Albritton's] weight. We're telling them that they need to come together and spread out her at-bats throughout the batters we have up and down our lineup. If three different players pick up a hit in each game, then we've covered the at-bats that we're used to getting from a player like Courtney. This is a team sport, and we have to approach it as such."
 
After three straight scoreless innings by both teams in game one, the Blazers broke through in the fourth with three runs on two hits and two errors committed by the Panthers. Phillips slapped the Blazers' first hit of the game with a leadoff single to third, and advanced to second base when Peterson misplayed a sacrifice bunt attempt at third off the bat of Imler. Both runners moved up when Shinsky came up firing from behind the plate and tried to pick Phillips off at second base. Johnson capitalized on the opportunity one at-bat later with a successful squeeze bunt to give VSU a 1-0 lead.
 
Valdosta State poured on later in the inning thanks to a two-run single by Heather Robinson that came with two outs and the bases loaded. The clutch base hit scored both Imler and Johnson, and put VSU in front 3-0.
 
Rusen added a run in the sixth inning with a leadoff solo shot to right center field, and helped insure Caitlyn Calhoun, who dealt her fourth consecutive shutout to improve her record to 13-1.
 
The Blazers, who represent the No. 2 team in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association rankings, improved their overall record to 23-2 on the year, while the Panthers saw their overall record fall to 19-7.
 
Conference play returns this weekend in Titletown, USA with a three game series against the West Alabama Tigers. A doubleheader kicks off the weekend set on Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. start. Live video and live stats are planned for the entire weekend and can be accessed at www.vstateblazers.com.