VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 2 Valdosta State softball team closes the 2021 regular season with a three-game series at rival No. 18 Alabama Huntsville this weekend.  The series is set for a doubleheader beginning Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, in Huntsville, Ala.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the series at vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page.  Check back with the site following the games each day for complete recaps and stats. 
 
VSU enters the series with a 21-game winning streak, the longest current winning streak in the nation in NCAA Division II.  It is the third-longest streak in all of the NCAA behind's Division III institutions Moravian (26) and Eastern Connecticut State (22).  VSU won 26 games during the 2015 season, for the longest winning streak in school history from Feb. 15 – April 3.
 
The Blazers are 32-3 overall and 25-2 in Gulf South Conference play.  Heading into this weekend's series, VSU owns a three-game lead in the league standings over Auburn Montgomery (22-5).  VSU needs just one victory this weekend to clinch the top-seed in the upcoming Gulf South Conference Championship, May 6-9, in Oxford, Ala., at Choccolocco Park.   
 
Following VSU and AUM in the league standings is Alabama Huntsville with a 20-7 record in league play and a 27-10 mark overall.  West Florida sits fourth in the league standings at 19-7 and 27-12 overall and West Georgia is fifth at 17-9 and 23-12 overall.  Those five teams already have clinched a berth in the conference tournament.  Lee, Mississippi College, West Alabama, Delta State and Montevallo all are fighting for the final three berths in the conference tournament. 
 
VSU head coach Thomas Macera is in his 16^th year at VSU and is 693-201-2 (.775) and is 899-268-2 (.770) overall, with stops at Lynn and Thomas University.  Macera has led his staff in earning the NFCA's South Region Coaching Staff of the Year honors three times and National Coaching Staff of the Year in 2012.  He was named GSC Coach of the Year in 2007, 2012 and 2015. He led the Blazers to an unprecedented six consecutive Gulf South Conference Championships from 2009-2014, with a seventh Conference title in 2018.  In addition, the accolades include four NCAA Division II South Regional Championships and the program's first ever National Championship Title in 2012.
 
The Blazers remained No. 2 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 as the top five remained the same for the fourth-straight week.  Augustana (S.D.) leads the poll, followed by the Blazers, and UT Tyler (Texas) is third.  North Georgia is fourth, followed by Indianapolis (Ind.).  AUM is 11^th this week after it was 19^th last week, while UAH fell to 18^th from 13^th and West Florida is 22^nd for the second-straight week for teams in the GSC. Rollins, from the South Region, is 15^th this week after it was eighth last week, while Tampa is among others receiving votes.
 
For the second week in a row, VSU is among eight teams under consideration for the NCAA South Regional.  The Blazers are one of five teams from the Gulf South Conference under consideration this week, along with UAH, AUM, West Florida and West Georgia.  Rollins, Saint Leo and Tampa from the Sunshine State Conference also are under consideration.
 
VSU junior Nicole Pennington earned her third Gulf South Conference Player of the Week honor this week as she hit three home runs Sunday in the 15-2 victory, marking the second time this season a Blazer has hit three home runs in a game.  It tied the GSC record for home runs by a player in a game.  She finished the week 5 of 12 from the dish (.417), scored six runs with five hits, one double, three dingers and seven RBI.  She slugged 1.250 with 15 total bases and walked twice.  Pennington leads the nation in home runs with 21, which is tied for seventh all-time in GSC history for home runs in a season.
 
In addition to leading Division II in home runs, she also leads in home runs per game at a 0.6 clip.  For the season, she is second nationally in slugging percentage at a 1.093 clip, while she is third nationally in total bases (117), fifth in RBIs (52), fourth in runs per game (1.49), seventh in RBIs per game (1.49) and 12^th in on base percentage at a .570 clip to lead the league in each area.  She also is tops in the GSC in batting average (.458) and second in the league in hits with 49.  
 
Freshman Taylor Macera earned GSC Freshman of the Week honors as she hit .637 in the series sweep last weekend at Christian Brothers.  Macera went 7 of 11 from the plate, scored five runs, two doubles and hit her first collegiate home run, while driving in six.  She slugged 1.091 for the weekend, totaling 12 bases.  Macera led the team in hits for the weekend as VSU improved to 32-3 on the year and a league-best 25-2 in GSC play.  Macera hit her home run in the sixth inning of game two putting VSU up 4-2 to that point as it won 9-2 Saturday evening in the second game of the doubleheader.
 
For the season, Macera has played in 28 games with 22 starts, mostly as the designated player.  She has 19 hits in 62 at bats for a .306 batting average, while she has scored 19 runs, four doubles, one home run and driven in ten. Macera is slugging .419 for the season with four walks, a .348 on base average and 2 for 2 on the base paths.  
 
The Chargers enter after winning two of three games at Delta State this past weekend.  UAH won the opener 3-0, dropped the second game 6-5 as DSU scored three runs in its last at bat for the walk-off victory.  UAH came back with a 6-0 victory in the rubber-match.  
 
For the season, UAH is second in the GSC behind VSU in batting average at a .329 clip for 31^st nationally.  UAH leads the GSC in hits with 333 for 16^th in the nation, while it is second to the Blazers in the GSC in on base percentage (.427, 9^th nat.), scoring (6.86, 21^st nat.) and total runs (254, 12^th nat.).  The Chargers are fourth nationally in walks with 165 for second in the GSC behind Delta State.  In addition, the Chargers are third in the GSC in stolen bases with 90 for 11^thnationally, third in the league in triples (10) for 32^nd nationally and fourth in the GSC sacrifice bunts (31) for 16^thnationally.
 
Individually, Mackenzie Nutt leads the team with a .393 average on 44 of 112 from the dish.  She has scored 31 runs with five doubles, three triples, three home runs and 26 RBI.  Nutt is 13 of 14 in stolen bases with 19 walks, a .571 slugging percentage and is reaching base at a .481 clip.  Kiara Akles is second in average at .354 on 35 of 99 from the plate.  She has 29 runs scored, four doubles, one triple, a team-high eight home runs and 39 RBI for third in the league and 28^th nationally.  Akles is slugging .657 and reaching base at a .467 clip with 20 walks.  In all, six players are hitting over .300 for the season.
 
On the mound, the Chargers are led by Layton Murphy with a 13-4 record in 22 appearances with 18 starts, 11 complete games, four shutouts and one save.  Her 13 W's are good for third in the GSC and 30^th nationally.  She has pitched 113.2 innings to lead the team, with 104 hits, 53 runs – 37 earned, walked 61 and fanned 72 as teams are hitting .243 against her.  She has a 2.28 ERA.  Grace O'Berry is 6-2 with a 2.99 ERA in 68 innings, while Akles is 4-4 with a 4.24 ERA in 36.1 innings.  UAH has used six pitchers during the season overall.  
 
UAH leads the all-time series with VSU 70-49, including winning two of three in Huntsville on Mar. 23-24, 2019.  The Chargers lead the series at home 31-16.  VSU has not won a series in Huntsville since sweeping a doubleheader on Mar. 25, 2012.  UAH has won three of the last five, seven of the last ten and 12 of the last 20 in the series.
 
This season, the Blazers lea the nation in home runs with 87 for fifth-most all-time in GSC history and third-most in VSU history.  VSU is tied for the GSC-record for home runs in a season with 98 in 2009 in 66 games, while the team had 91 dingers in 2014 in 63 games.  The NCAA Division II home run record for a season is 114 set by Humboldt State (Calif.) in 2013 in 67 games.  VSU has hit double-digit home runs four of the last five series', including 11 last week, at Christian Brothers. VSU hit a season-high 13 home runs in a series against West Alabama (Apr. 10-11).  The 87 home runs are tied for second-most (Arkansas) for all divisions in the NCAA as Oklahoma leads the way with 114.
 
More impressively, VSU has the top five home run hitters in the GSC with Pennington with 21, followed by senior Kiley Robb with 15 dingers for sixth nationally, freshman Morgan Hill with 14 home runs for ninth nationally, her sister senior Logan Hill with 12 for 17^th nationally and freshman Aniston Gano with ten round-trippers for 37^th nationally.  Between the five of them, they have more home runs combined than every other D2 team in the country.  
 
The Blazers also lead the nation in slugging percentage at a .709 clip, while the team is second nationally in on base percentage at a .462 clip, scoring at an 8.60 average per game, total runs (301), strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.45) and WHIP (0.82).  The team is third nationally in batting average at a .365 clip and fifth nationally in ERA at 1.28.  The team is sixth in shutouts (12) and seventh nationally in walks with 156 free passes for third in the GSC.
 
Not only has the team been outstanding offensively, but also in the circle as sophomore Samantha Richards is fifth nationally in complete games (17), while she is fourth nationally in games started (22) and third in appearances (27). Richards is 16^th nationally in ERA (0.93), while she is seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.12), fifth in strikeouts (178) and second nationally in victories (21) – leading the league in each of the categories listed above.