VALDOSTA, Ga. – Riding a five-game winning streak, the No. 7 Valdosta State softball team concludes its ten-game home stand with rival No. 17 West Florida this weekend at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park.  The series pits the current top two teams in the Gulf South Conference standings and it has potentially significant regular season title implications.
 
VSU enters with a 16-3 record overall and a 10-2 mark in the GSC, while West Florida is 18-7 overall and 12-3 in league play.  VSU is 9-1 at home this season, while the Argos are 3-5 on the road. 
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the series at vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page.  The games will be broadcast on TALK 92.1 WDDQ FM and talk921.com.  VSU Director of Athletics Herb Reinhard will have the call of Saturday's doubleheader, while Sunday's game will be broadcast by Bill Malone.
 
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, there will be limited capacity at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park this season.  A hard capacity of 180 (one hundred eighty) fans will be admitted to each home game.  Seating includes 90 marked seats available in the grandstand and 90 marked seats in the lawn outside the outfield fence.  Fans are encouraged to come to Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park early to ensure admittance.  Gates will open one (1) hour before each game, adult general admission tickets are $5 and youth/senior tickets are $3.  Fans are encouraged to bring a lawn chair for seating outside the outfield fence.  No umbrellas or lawn chairs will be allowed in the grandstands.  No further entry will be allowed once capacity is reached.  No pets are allowed, including emotional support animals, except service animals with proper documentation.  Spectators should enter through the front gate of the ballpark.  Masks must be worn at all times while at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park. 
 
The Blazers are coming off of four, non-conference victories this past week with doubleheader sweeps of Albany State and Georgia Southwestern.  VSU hit .361 for the week with 35 hits, 34 runs scored, six doubles, one triple and ten home runs, while it drove in 32. The Blazers slugged .753 and reached base at a .480 clip with 22 walks and two hit batsmen.  VSU was 7 for 7 in stolen bases and held a .951 fielding percentage with five errors.  VSU hit a school-record six home runs by six different Blazers in the 15-0 victory over Albany State a week ago Wednesday.  VSU followed with a 9-2 victory in the nightcap and then continued its winning streak with a 4-0 and a 6-5 victories over Georgia Southwestern on Saturday. 
 
Junior Nicole Pennington hit .583 for the four games with seven hits, five runs scored, a team-high three home run and drove in six.  She slugged 1.333, while reaching base at a .667 clip with three walks.  Sophomore Kiley Robb blasted to home runs and hit .357 with two doubles, while senior Logan Hill hit .667 on 6 of 9 from the dish with five runs scored, two doubles, one home run and four RBI. 
 
In the circle, the Blazers held a 1.08 ERA in 26 innings, allowing 11 hits, seven runs – four earned, walked four and fanned 42 as teams hit .120 against the Blazers.  Sophomore Samantha Richards was named GSC Co-Pitcher of the Week as she was 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 17 innings, allowing six hits, walked three and fanned 32.  She had one complete game, one shutout and combined on a shutout, while recording one save.  Freshman Mia DeAngelis saw her first action of the season in one inning and fanned two. 
 
VSU leads the all-time series 53-52 as UWF has won six of the last seven meetings, including four of five meetings in 2019.  VSU is 28-16 all-time in Valdosta against the Argos.  The Blazers went 1-2 in 2019 in Valdosta against UWF, but went 3-0 against the Argos in 2017 in Valdosta.  UWF won the last meeting in the NCAA South Regional, eliminating the Blazers, 4-3 in Pensacola, Fla., on May 10, 2019. 
 
West Florida enters with an 18-7 record overall and a 12-3 mark in the GSC.  The Argos are third nationally in home runs (29), sixth in doubles (43), ninth in hits (206) and tenth in runs scored (144).  UWF is fifth in shutouts (6) and fourth in double plays turned (10).  VSU leads the nation in home runs with 33.
 
The Argos are hitting .316 for the season and led by Teala Howard as she is hitting .437 for the year in 25 starts.  Howard has a team-high 38 hits, with 29 runs scored, three doubles, three triples, two home runs and driven in six.  She is 16 of 19 in stolen bases and is slugging .609 for the season.  Courtney McLellan is hitting .369 for the year with 24 hits, 11 runs scored, a team-high six doubles, two triples, three home runs and 16 RBI.  Kara Wilson leads the team with six home runs and 19 RBI, while hitting .342 for the season with 27 hits for second on the team and 18 runs scored. 
 
For the season, three pitchers have seen action in the circle as Montana Young and Kelsey Sweatt each are 7-2 on the year.  Sweatt holds a slim one-inning lead in innings pitched (56.2-55.2), while Young has fanned a team-high 59 and Sweatt has 48 K's.  Young leads the staff with a 2.26 ERA in 15 appearances, while Sweatt has a 2.96 ERA in 13 appearances with ten starts.  She has six complete games and two saves.  Grace Gilbert is 4-3 on the year in 11 appearances in 52.2 innings of work.  Nationally speaking, Howard is third in the country in hits (38), fifth in stolen bases (16) and tenth in triples (3).
 
For the Blazers, Pennington leads the way with a .462 average in 19 starts.  She has 24 hits to tie for the team lead, while leading the team in runs scored (26).  She and sophomore Kiley Robb each have eight home runs and 27 RBI to lead the team.  Robb is hitting .375 with 21 hits for second on the team, while she leads the team in doubles with five.  Freshman Morgan Hill is second in average at .387 and is tied with Pennington for the team lead in hits with 24.  M. Hill has scored 23 runs for second on the team, while her sister senior Logan Hill is third in runs scored with 21 and is hitting .353 for the season.  M. Hill is a perfect 12 for 12 in stolen bases this season and second on the team.  Freshman Aniston Gano is third in average at .383 on the season.  Pennington has reached safely in all 19 games this season for the longest streak on the team, while L. Hill has reached safely in 18-straight games.  Pennington leads the team with a .606 on base average with 16 walks and been hit by pitches three times.  L. Hill leads the team with 17 walks on the year.
 
As a team, the Blazers are hitting .343 for the season with 145 runs scored, 162 hits, 22 doubles, two triples, 33 home runs and 141 RBI.  The team is slugging .608 on the year and reaching base at a .461 clip, while going 46 of 48 in stolen bases.  VSU has drawn 96 walks and been hit 11 times, while striking out just 53 times for the season. 
 
In the circle, VSU boasts a 1.10 ERA in 115 innings, with 12 complete games six full shutouts and one combined shutout and two saves.  The staff has allowed 62 hits, 28 runs – 18 earned, walked 18 and fanned 133 as teams are hitting just .156 against it.  VSU has surrendered just 15 extra-base hits for the season on nine doubles and six home runs, while hitting ten batters.  VSU has committed 16 errors for a .966 fielding percentage and ten unearned runs. 
 
Individually, Richards is 11-2 with a 0.56 ERA in 74.2 innings.  She has appeared in 15 games with 12 starts, nine complete games, four shutouts and one combined shutout, while recording two saves.  Richards has surrendered 38 hits, nine runs – six earned and walked ten, while striking out 95 as the opposition is hitting .150 against her.  M. Hill has a 1.67 ERA in six starts and a 3-1 record with one shutout and three complete games.  She has pitched 29.1 innings, allowing 18 hits, 14 runs – seven earned, walked seven and fanned 28.  Senior Avery Lamb is 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA in five appearances with one start, while freshman Mia DeAngelis saw her first action last week, going one inning and combining on a shutout, while fanning two in the 15-0 victory over Albany State.
 
Nationally speaking, VSU leads the nation in home runs with 33 and is second in home runs per game at a 1.74 clip.  The Blazers are seventh nationally in on base percentage at a .461 clip, while they are 14^th in scoring (7.63 runs per game), seventh in slugging percentage (.608), tenth in total runs (145), fifth in sacrifice bunts (18), 13^th in stolen bases (46) and sixth in walks (96).  Defensively, the Blazers are 11^th in ERA (1.10), sixth in shutouts (6), sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.39) and third in WHIP (0.70).
 
Individually, Richards is seventh nationally in complete games with nine, while she is 26^th in ERA at 0.56, 12^th in games started (12), tenth in pitching appearances (15), ninth in saves (2), 16^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.5), sixth in strikeouts (95) and 14^th in WHIP (0.64).  Pennington and Robb are fifth nationally in home runs (8) and two off the national lead, while the duo is seventh in RBI (27).  Pennington leads the GSC in runs per game at a 1.37 clip for 28^th nationally, while she, and Robb, are 29^th in RBI per game at 1.42.  She is 19^th in slugging percentage (.981) to lead the league and is 23^rd nationally in total bases with 51.  L. Hill leads the GSC in walks per game at 0.89 for 24^th nationally.  M. Hill is 27^th nationally in stolen bases (12) for fourth in the GSC.  
 
Following the weekend series with UWF, VSU heads on the road at Delta State for Easter Weekend.  The series in Cleveland, Miss., is set for a doubleheader Apr. 2, beginning at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a single game Apr. 3 at 1 p.m. ET.