VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 7 Valdosta State University softball team is set to begin its 2022 season at the Gulf Shores Invitational in Gulf Shores, Ala., against a host of ranked teams.

The invitational spans three days, and the Blazers open the invitational with Nova Southeastern on Friday at 4 p.m., followed by No. 4-ranked West Texas A&M and Spring Hill College on Saturday at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectfully. VSU will then round out the invitational with Lubbock Christian and No. 5 North Georgia on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.

Friday's contest against Nova Southeastern will mark the first meeting between the two teams since the 2019 season opener in the Gulf Shores Invitational. The Blazers defeated the Lady Sharks 3-2, and the Blazers are currently riding a four-game win streak against the Lady Sharks dating back to 2012. 

Following the Lady Sharks, VSU will take on defending national champion West Texas A&M. The Blazers fell in heartbreaking fashion, 3-2 to the Lady Buffs in the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship Game. The game came down to the seventh inning, with the Lady Buffs jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the inning. The Blazers battled back in the bottom of the frame putting back two runs, but ultimately fell after a strikeout. This past season, the Lady Buffs won the national championship over Biola University. 

VSU hasn't met with Spring Hill College since the 2019 season, where the Blazers walked away with a 3-2 win with an RBI single to center field in the 11th inning to stave off elimination in the NCAA South Regional. The Lady Badgers finished last season with a 14-12 record and has placed three players on the SIAC 2022 preseason team.

In 2020, the Blazers fell to Lubbock Christian, 4-3 in eight innings in the Gulf Shores Invitational. The Lady Chaps were tabbed No. 7 in the Lone Star Conference preseason poll and had a 29-17 record in 2021 and finished eighth in the LSC.

VSU rounds out the highly competitive invitational with No. 5 North Georgia. The Nighthawks ended the Blazers' 2021 campaign in the NCAA Elite 8, 8-4 in Denver, Colo. VSU led through five innings and put up three homers before UNG's offense exploded in the top of the sixth. The Nighthawks were tabbed league favorites in the Peach Belt Conference for 2022. UNG lost six all-league selections from 2021, and have a youthful roster, with no seniors and two returning juniors.

This season, the Blazers were picked second in the Gulf South Conference preseason poll, just behind Auburn Montgomery. VSU returns a plethora of key players including senior infielder Nikki Pennington,  junior pitcher Samantha Richards, and utility/pitcher Morgan Hill, who were all named to the GSC 2022 preseason team.

Head coach Thomas Macera also has two transfers, Ally Clegg from Coastal Carolina University and Abby Sulte from Northwest Florida Community College, to add to his lineup.

At CCU, Clegg played in 36 games, starting 33, and had a .244 batting average along with four doubles, one home run, and 12 RBI. Sulte was named to the NFCA All-America Second Team last season for the Raiders and hit a NJCAA Region VIII-best 20 home runs and drove in 67 runs, good for second-best in the region. She led the Raiders with a .871 slugging percentage and was 31st in the country with 148 total bases.

Macera, in his 16th season at the helm for the Blazers, has assistant coach Shelby Hill, volunteer assistant, L. Hill, and graduate students Avery Lamb and Caylee Hancock on his coaching staff.

"We really just look forward to playing," Macera said on this weekend's games. "The biggest thing is getting back out on the dirt and make another run towards a national championship. We haven't changed anything differently looking at these teams, and we are working hard and putting in effort day in and day out."

The Blazers open the home campaign on February 19 against Alabama Huntsville for a weekend series with the Chargers.

For all information on Blazer softball visit vstateblazers.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.