VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 19 Valdosta State softball team returns home to host Christian Brothers in a three-game, Gulf South Conference series this weekend at Steel's Diamond.  The series is scheduled for a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m., followed by a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and video streaming of the games at vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page.  Check back with the site following the games each day for complete recaps and stats.
 
Heading into the series, VSU is 27-12 overall and 10-10 in GSC play.  The Blazers sit sixth in the standings, a half game out of fifth (Union) and a game out of fourth (West Alabama).  Christian Brothers is 9-30 overall and 1-19 in conference play this season.
 
Looking at the national rankings, West Florida leads this week's rankings, while Alabama Huntsville sits 14^thand the Blazers are 19^th.  Among teams in the region, Florida Tech is tenth, while Rollins is 23^rd.  Mississippi College is receiving votes.  
 
Christian Brothers enters after being swept by Mississippi College last weekend and is 1-11 on the road this season, with the lone road victory being an 8-5 win at Shorter for the only conference victory of the year.  The Bucs are hitting .269 on the year with 265 hits, 31 doubles, 14 triples, 15 home runs and 143 RBI, while scoring 164 runs.  CBU is 57 of 65 in stolen bases, while slugging .375 and reaching base at a .352 average with 93 walks and 37 hit batters.  CBU has a .944 fielding percentage with 60 errors leading to 46 unearned runs.  
 
Mackenzie Puckett leads the team with a .385 average on 30 of 78 from the dish with 11 runs, nine doubles, two home runs and 13 RBI.  She is slugging .577 and reaching base at a .456 clip.  Ashley Dyer leads the team with 39 hits and is second in average at a .358 mark.  She has scored a team-high 26 runs with four doubles, a team-best seven triples, one home run and 21 RBI.  Maddi Welch (.316 avg.) leads the team with 25 RBI, while Kendall Westbrooks has a team-best six home runs on the year.  
 
On the mound, CBU has a 7.75 ERA in 238.1 innings of work.  The Bucs have allowed 402 hits, 310 runs – 264 earned, walked 146 and fanned 148 as teams are hitting .369 against them.  Sierra Anderson has played in 17 games with 12 starts to lead the team, while recording three complete games.  Anderson has pitched a team-high 62.2 innings, allowing 114 hits, 80 runs – 67 earned, walked 26 and fanned 24.  Puckett also pitches as she is 2-6 with a 6.87 ERA in 20 appearances with ten starts.  She is third in innings pitched (54) and second behind Macy Cumming in strikeouts with 37, as Cumming has fanned 51.
 
The Blazers are coming off a 2-1 series at Montevallo last weekend and a 4-1 record for the week as VSU also swept a doubleheader at Albany State.  For the week, VSU hit .342 with 50 hits, 37 runs, nine doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 35 RBI.  The team slugged .582 and reached base at a .401 clip with 17 walks.  VSU had seven errors for a .948 fielding percentage leading to three unearned runs.  In the circle, the Blazers had a 2.97 ERA in 33 innings, allowing 33 hits, 17 runs – 14 earned, walked three and fanned 29 as the opposition hit just .248 against it.
 
Individually, junior Haley Garrett went 8 of 17 from the dish with a team-high eight runs scored, two doubles, three home runs and eight RBI.  She slugged 1.118 and reached base at a .571 clip, earning Gulf South Conference Player of the Week honors.  Redshirt freshman Kiley Robb hit .529 with nine hits, eight runs scored, two doubles and two home runs, while recording six RBI.  Sophomore Caylie Van Auken went 3-0 for the week with a 3.15 ER in 20 innings, allowing 20 hits, 11 runs – nine earned, walked three and fanned 17. Senior Kasie Johnson went 1-1 with a 2.69 ERA in 13 innings, allowing 13 hits, six runs – five earned, walked none and fanned 12.  
 
Nationally speaking, the Blazers lead the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 7.8, while ranking 11^thin home runs per game at 1.21 for first in the conference. VSU ranks 31^stnationally in slugging percentage at a .488 clip for third in the league.  The Blazers are 34^thnationally in ERA (2.40) for third in the conference, while ranking 69^thin fielding percentage at a .963 clip, also good for third in the GSC. 
 
Van Auken is seventh nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at an 8.47 clip to lead the league.  She is 30^thnationally in strikeouts for second in the league with 127, while ranking 41^stin strikeouts per seven innings at a 7.8 clip.  Johnson is 57^thnationally and third in the league in shutouts with three, while ranking 10^thin strikeout-to-walk ratio at 7.79 for second in the conference.  She is 49^thin strikeouts (109) for fourth in the GSC and is 25^thin strikeouts per seven innings at 8.5 for second in the league.  Van Auken and Johnson rank 22^ndand 37^th, respectively, in walks allowed per seven innings at 0.92 and 1.09, respectively.  
 
Garrett is 26^thnationally and second in the conference in home runs with 10, while ranking 46^thnationally in home runs per game at 0.26 for second in the league.  Junior Dream Aaron is fifth nationally in walks at 0.89 per game with a team-high 31 free passes.  
 
Robb enters the weekend with a team-high seven-game hitting streak, while junior Lacey Crandall has reached base in 12-straight games to lead the team.  Garrett leads the team with nine multi-hit games this season, while Robb has a team-best ten multi-RBI games in 2019.  
 
Following the series, VSU will travel to Shorter for a three-game series Apr. 19-20 for the final road regular season trip of the season.  The Blazers then close the regular season with five-straight home games, beginning Apr. 23 with a doubleheader against Albany State beginning at 4 p.m., followed by West Georgia visiting for a series Apr. 27-28.