VALDOSTA, Ga. - Valdosta State prepares to play their fourth and fifth game in a four day span on Tuesday against the visiting Panthers of Florida Tech in a Gulf South Conference, Sunshine State Conference crossover matchup.

The Blazers (21-2, 10-1 GSC) are carrying serious momentum after a three-game sweep over GSC rival North Alabama this past weekend, which propelled Head Coach Thomas Macera's squad to a 21-2 overall record and bumped the teams' current winning streak up to 11 games.

Valdosta State now holds a two-game first place lead over the rest of the GSC, while UNA, who entered last weekend's set in Valdosta as the league's number one team with an undefeated conference record, fell all the way to fourth place behind the third place Lady Choctaws of Mississippi State. North Alabama's slide allowed Alabama-Huntsville to move into second place with an 8-2 conference record.
 
A driving force behind Valdosta State's recent success has been the pitching effort of Caitlyn Calhoun. Last week, the junior fueled three of the Blazers' five wins on the week with three complete game shutouts and a no-hitter against Florida Southern. Over the course of 14 innings pitched against the Lions over the weekend, Calhoun allowed only four hits and dropped her season ERA to 0.91. The righty currently ranks first in the conference in both wins (12) and opponents batting average (.144).

The Panthers enter Tuesday's twin bill with a stout season record of 18-5 overall. Players to watch for the Panthers include both Elaine Brown and Nicole Miller, who are each hitting above the .400 mark at .449 and .415, respectively.

Florida Tech's pitching staff is led by Rachel Pence, who has put together a 10-2 record so far on the year en route to a 1.93 ERA. The sophomore is averaging nearly one strikeout per innings with a total of 79 strikeouts in 79.2 innings pitched.

The midweek non-conference doubleheader is set to get underway on Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park. The game will be carried live with live stats and live video coverage at www.vstateblazers.com.