VALDOSTA, Ga. - Valdosta State softball's season came to an end on Sunday afternoon after a 6-1 NCAA South 1 Regional loss to the red hot Shorter Lady Hawks at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park in Valdosta, Ga.
The victory extended Shorter's stellar postseason run in which they have won eight games against just one loss. The Lady Hawks improved their record to 39-15 and picked up their sixth consecutive win, each of which have been over nationally ranked opponents.
The Blazers fell behind early after Shorter leadoff hitter Niki Cook led off the bottom half of the first inning with a single and quickly stole second base. After moving up on a grounder to first by Maggie Meacham, Cook came across on a groundout off the bat of Kendall Johnson to give SU the 1-0 lead.
Valdosta State responded quickly in the top of the second inning after
Heather Robinson drew a one-out walk and gave way to pinch runner
Brittany Smith.
Brandy Morgan followed with a single to left center field and
Kelly Gordon struck a long single over Cook's head in center field to plate Smith and knot the contest up at 1-1.
One inning later, senior
Fran Johnson was hit by a pitch and stole her 35th base of the season to move into scoring position. The Lady Hawks denied the Blazers the go-ahead run, however, when Meacham fielded a single by
Kiley Rusen in left field and threw out Johnson at the plate. Rusen was caught between second and third on the same play and was tagged out to clear the bases and snuff out a potential big inning for the red and black.
The Lady Hawks used the momentum in the bottom half of the frame to take a 4-1 lead with three consecutive RBI hits. All three runs in the inning came with two outs and represented three of five Shorter runs scored in the contest with two outs.
Shorter put the cap on the afternoon and earned a trip to next weekend's NCAA South Super Regional when Ericka Bynum turned on an inside pitch and lifted a well-struck two-run liner over the left field wall with two outs in the fifth.
Shorter will face the winner of the South 2 Regional Champioship game between the North Alabama Lions and the Florida Tech Panthers, taking place in Florence, Ala. on Sunday afternoon. Valdosta State concluded its season at 48-9 on the year.
