VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State softball team fell victim to the long ball in a Gulf South Conference loss to Shorter, as the Hawks used three homers to outscore VSU 6-4 on Friday afternoon at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park.
Caitlyn Calhoun, who suffered the loss for Valdosta State (17-7, 7-6 GSC), controlled the contest early with two quick innings in the first and second, but Shorter (13-8, 8-5 GSC) broke through in the third for five runs. Designated hitter Savannah Thomas led off the inning with a solo shot that she snuck inside the left field foul pole for the first run of the game, and Kendall Johnson was hit by a pitch two batters later. After stealing second base, Johnson appeared to have been thrown out at the plate by Blazer left fielder
Brandy Morgan after trying to score on a Niki Cook single to left. The call was overturned, however, after the umpires determined that Johnson's progress was impeded on the basepaths by a Blazer defender near third base. As a result, Johnson was allowed to score on the play, and Kameron Carter added her fifth home run of the season later in the inning, a two run blast that gave SU a 5-0 advantage.
The Blazers responded in the bottom half of the inning with two runs on
Heather Robinson's sixth long ball of the season. The opposite field shot came with two outs and plated
Taylor Hartenbach, who reached earlier in the inning on a single up the middle.
Calhoun blanked the Hawks for the next three innings, which allowed the Blazers to creep back into the contest after an RBI grounder by Cruthers in the bottom of the fifth and a leadoff line drive homer off the bat of Morgan in the top half of the sixth.
The Hawks added on in the top of the seventh, however, with another leadoff homer by Ericka Bynum for her fifth of the year. The Blazers were unable to overcome the 6-4 deficit in the bottom half of the final inning, as Kalei Kimbrell came on after the Morgan home run in the sixth to pick up the save for Shorter for her third of the year.
The Blazers equaled the Hawks in the hit column with nine, but Valdosta State struggled to find timely hits in the contest and left eight baserunners stranded over the course of the seven inning affair.
Kiley Rusen joined Hartenbach and Robinson as one of three Blazers to slug two or more hits in the contest, but Shorter starter Payton Lippert was able to scatter the hits during five innings of work to hold VSU at bay and improve her record to 6-5 on the season. With the loss, Calhoun fell to 11-4 on the year.
Valdosta State will aim to rebound on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. double header matchup on Saturday at Steel's Diamond in Valdosta, Ga.
