VALDOSTA, Ga. ­– The No. 3 Valdosta State softball team is set to travel to St. Augustine, Fla., to take on Flagler College on Wednesday for a mid-week non-conference doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the games against Flagler at vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page. Check back with the site for complete recaps and stats of each game throughout the season.
 
The Blazers (12-3, 5-0 Gulf South Conference) dropped one spot to No. 3 this week in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25, after picking up a loss against Georgia Southwestern on Feb. 23, 4-2. Before the loss, the Blazers defeated the Hurricanes 11-0 in six innings.  
 
 
VSU rebounded after the loss and picked up two GSC wins this past weekend against the Lee Flames. The Blazers took game one. 9-7 and overcame a 6-2 deficit after the first inning to defeat Lee 14-11 in stunning fashion in the nightcap. The final game against the Flames on Sunday was canceled due to inclement weather.  
 
Sophomore Katie Proctor, this week's GSC Player of the Week, recorded two home runs on Saturday against Lee. Her first blast came in the third inning of game one, allowing VSU to build an early 4-0 lead while the second homer came in game two in the fifth inning to pull the Blazers within three, 11-8. 
 
The Saints (9-7, 0-0 Peach Belt Conference) are coming off a pair of losses against Florida Tech on Feb. 22. Flagler fell 7-0 to the Panthers in game one of the doubleheaders and lost 4-2 in game two.  
 
Kyleigh Taylor has a team-high .375 batting average for the Saints and has recorded 12 runs, 18 hits and five home runs through 48 at-bats. Madelyn Wise has recorded the most time in the circle and has a 3.95 earned run average along with 25 strikeouts, and has given up 59 hits, 36 runs, 19 walks and three home runs.  
 
For the Blazers, sophomore Aniston Gano has a team-high 17 hits through 42 at-bats along with 11 runs, three home runs, 17 RBI and a .405 batting average while senior Nikki Pennington has four home runs, 14 hits, 12 runs, 12 RBI, and a .359 batting average through 39 at-bats.  
 
In the circle, head coach Thomas Macera has utilized his entire pitching staff throughout the season. Junior Samantha Richards has recorded 70 strikeouts and has held her opponents to 19 runs, 44 hits, 13 earned runs and 16 walks for a 1.60 ERA through 57 innings pitched. Sophomore Mia DeAngelis has fanned 19 batters and has given up 14 earned runs, 10 walks and has a 3.42 ERA through 28.2 innings. Sophomore Morgan Hill has seven strikeouts on the year and has given up eight earned runs, 12 hits, seven walks and has a 4.31 ERA through 13 innings pitched.  
 
The Blazers currently sit second in the GSC standings, right behind West Florida with an 11-3 record and a 6-0 mark in the GSC. Proctor has the highest batting average in the GSC with a .591, while Richards has the third-lowest ERA in the league with a 1.60 and is also tied 15^th nationally in strikeouts.  
 
Valdosta State leads the series with Flagler, 10-5, dating back to the 2014 season. The last time the two teams met was in the 2021 season where the Blazers fell to the Saints on Feb. 5, 2021, in the Flagler Invitational 1-0. Richards pitched the entire game for the Blazers and put up four strikeouts and gave up six hits, one run and one walk. Prior to the loss, the Blazers have recorded three wins against Flagler including a doubleheader sweep in the 2020 season and a 3-1 win in the 2019 season in St. Augustine.  
 
After the meeting with the Saints, the Blazers return home to host the Montevallo Falcons at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park for a weekend GSC Series beginning with Saturday's doubleheader at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and then finishing the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.  
 
For all information on Blazer softball visit vstateblazer.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.