Stat Packet

GSC Championship Central

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 18-ranked and No. 4-seeded Valdosta State softball team heads to Pensacola, Fla., for the 2019 Gulf South Conference Championship May 2-5 at the University of West Florida.  
 
Fans can purchase tickets for the championship for $8 for an adult ticket, $5 for student ticket for 6-17 years old and an all-tournament pass is $20.  Click on the link above for information on the GSC Softball Championship, along with links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the championship.  Spencer Van Horn will have the call of the championship for the Blazers on 107.5 FM in Valdosta.
 
The Blazers, 33-14, finished as the No. 4-seed in the conference standings with a 14-12 mark in conference play.  VSU will face West Alabama in the 4/5 matchup Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.  VSU and UWA haven't played each other this season.  The Tigers are 28-21 overall and went 15-13 in conference play.  The winner of the game will play the winner of top-seeded West Florida and No. 8-seed Delta State, Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET, while the loser of the VSU/UWA game will play in an elimination game Friday at 1:30 p.m. ET against the loser of the UWF/DSU game.  
 
VSU enters the 2019 Gulf South Conference Championship with a league-best 71-41 record (.634) all-time in the championship. The Blazers are the defending conference champions and have won nine titles in program history, including a league-record six-straight titles from 2009-2014.  VSU has 19 semifinal appearances and 13 trips to the finals. This is VSU's 30^thappearance in the GSC Championship. 
 
Last season, VSU and North Alabama shared the conference title as inclement weather cancelled the championship after it had already started.  VSU downed Delta State and Alabama Huntsville, prior to the cancellation. 
 
VSU capped the regular season with a 3-2 week as it swept Albany State in a doubleheader last Tuesday and then went 1-2 against West Georgia, winning Sunday's final game, 4-1.  Prior to the doubleheader sweep by the Wolves over the Blazers on Saturday, VSU had won seven-straight, after going 6-5 in the previous 11.  
 
For the week, VSU hit .282 with 35 hits, 24 runs scored, six doubles, five home runs and 22 RBI.  The team slugged .452 and reached base at a .355 clip with 11 walks and was hit by pitches four times.  Five errors led to two unearned runs as the opposition hit .226 for the week. Junior Natalia Bellinger paced the team hitting 7 for 15 with three runs scored, two doubles and two RBI, for a team-best .467 average.  Junior Logan Hill blasted two home runs and was 5 of 13 from the dish with four runs scored, one double and seven RBI for a .385 average.  Redshirt freshman Kiley Robb led the team with seven runs scored. 
 
In the circle, junior Avery Lamb went 1-0 in two starts for 8.2 innings, walking one and fanning four, while allowing just one unearned run.  Both sophomore Caylie Van Auken and senior Kasie Johnson were 1-1 for the week as Van Auken had a team-high 16 strikeouts to just three walks. 
 
West Alabama has won eight of its last 12 games, but got swept at West Florida last weekend.  The Tigers enter the conference tournament hitting .278 for the season in 49 games with 357 hits, 243 runs scored, 50 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs and 216 RBI.  UWA is slugging .374 and reaching base at a .367 clip with 130 walks and 55 hit batsmen. The Tigers are 90 of 106 in stolen bases, while recording a .952 fielding percentage with 67 errors leading to 48 unearned runs.  
 
Individually, Kacy Noland leads the team with a .360 average on 54 of 150 from the plate.  She has scored 27 runs to lead the team, while notching a team-high nine doubles, one triple and two home runs for 25 RBI. She is slugging .473 and reaching base at a .453 average, while going a perfect 9 for 9 in stolen bases. Kierra Hague is second in average at a .349 clip, while leading the team with seven home runs and 29 RBI.  She is third on the team in hits (37), while leading the team with a .575 slugging percentage.  Alli Craft is third in average at a .328 clip with 42 hits, five doubles, five home runs and 33 RBI to lead the team.  
 
The Tigers have a 3.41 ERA in 328.1 innings of work this season as the team has allowed 361 hits, 208 runs – 160 earned, walked 76 and fanned 201 as teams are hitting .274 against them.  Nora Keehn is 15-9 with a 2.58 ERA in 37 appearances with 27 starts.  She has pitched 165.1 innings, allowing 166 hits, 77 runs – 61 earned, walked 13 and fanned 91.  Noland is 4-3 in 13 appearances with eight stars.  She has pitched 33.2 innings, while Carleigh Mills has pitched 57.1 for second on the team.
 
UWA is 43^rdnationally in stolen bases per game at 1.84 as it has 90 thefts on the season. The team is 44^thand third in the GSC behind VSU in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.64. VSU leads the league at an 8.34 ratio. Keehn is 12^thin strikeout-to-walk ratio at 7.00 for third in the GSC, while she is fourth nationally in walks allowed per seven innings at 0.55 to lead the league.  Noland is fourth in the league in hit by pitches at 0.29 for 38^thnationally.  
 
West Alabama is making its 19^thappearance in the GSC Championship and is 38-25 (.603) all-time.  The Tigers have been the semis eight times, final seven times and won six titles.  VSU and UWA have met four times in the GSC Championship as the teams are 2-2 against each other.  They last played in the 2012 Championship with VSU winning 7-6 in the semifinal round.  The Blazers last played UWA in 2018, as VSU won three games in Livingston, Ala.  
 
VSU has been third in the previous two NCAA South Region rankings and will find out where it is in the final public ranking Wednesday afternoon.  The 2019 NCAA Division II Softball Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, May 6 at 10 a.m. ET on NCAA.com. VSU is looking for its 14^th-straight trip to the NCAA Championship in 2019, and the 18^thappearance in program history.  VSU is 55-36 all-time in the NCAA Championship, winning the national title in 2012. 
 
The Blazers enter the conference tournament hitting .290 on 350 of 1207.  The team has scored 267 runs with 57 doubles, four triples, 57 home runs and 236 RBI. VSU is slugging .486 and reaching base at a .383 clip with 174 walks and 16 hit batsmen.  The Blazers are 61 of 67 in stolen bases and have 46 errors leading to a .963 fielding percentage and 24 unearned runs.  
 
Individually junior Fallyn Johnson leads the team in hitting at .394 on 26 of 66 as she has scored 14 runs with six RBI.  Junior Haley Garrett is one of three Blazers to have played and started all 47 games thus far and is second in average at .358. She leads the team with 40 runs scored, 48 hits and is tied for second on the team in doubles with eight.  She has 10 home runs for second on the team, while leading the team in slugging percentage at a .642 clip.  Garrett has walked 18 times with a .438 on base percentage, while going 5 for 5 in stolen bases.  Bellinger is third in average at .310 as she is fourth on the team in hits with 35, while recording six doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI.  Hill has a 1.000 fielding percentage with 227 putouts in 241 attempts with no errors on the year, while hitting .298 with 34 hits, 31 runs scored, nine doubles, six home runs and 26 RBI. She is slugging .535 and reaching base at a .433 clip.  Robb leads the team with 12 home runs this season.  
 
In the circle, VSU has a 2.32 ERA in 311 innings, allowing 278 hits, 127 runs – 103 earned, walked 41 and fanned 342 as teams are hitting .231 against it.  Van Auken leads the team with a 1.76 ERA as she is 14-5 on the year in a team-high 139.1 innings of work.  She has allowed 119 hits, 46 runs – 35 earned, walked 18 and fanned a team-high 169 as teams are hitting .225 against her.  K. Johnson also is 14-5 with a 2.72 ERA in 116 innings.  She has allowed 108 hits, 50 runs – 45 earned, walked 16 and fanned 132 as teams are hitting .237 against her.  Lamb is 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA in 24.2 innings this season.  
 
VSU had four players earn All-GSC honors this week, but no Blazer was named to the first team.  Junior catcher Lacey Crandall, Robb, K. Johnson and Van Auken all earned second team honors.  Crandall has been huge for the Blazers behind the dish as she is hitting .293 with 34 hits, 19 runs scored, five doubles, three home runs and 22 RBI.  She has just three errors on the year for a .991 fielding percentage with 305 putouts in 325 chances. 
 
Nationally speaking, VSU is 26^thnationally in ERA at 2.24 for third in the league.  VSU is ninth in home runs per game at 1.21 to lead the conference.  VSU leads the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio at an 8.34 clip, while ranking 36^thnationally and second in the league in slugging percentage at .486.  Van Auken and K. Johnson are fourth and eighth nationally, respectively, in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 9.39 and 8.25, respectively, to lead the conference. Van Auken is 27^thin strikeouts with 169 to lead the league, while K. Johnson is 65^that 132 for third in the league.  The duo is 18^thand 33^rd, respectively, in strikeouts per seven innings, as Van Auken is 18^that 8.5 for second in the league and K. Johnson is third at 8.0 per contest.  Both players are tied for second in the league in shutouts (4), while Van Auken is 19^thin walks allowed per nine innings (0.9) and K. Johnson is 23^rdat 0.97, for second and third in the league, respectively.  Robb is 48^thnationally in home runs (12) for third in the league, while Garrett is fifth in the league with ten.  Crandall is second in the league in sacrifice flies with three.