VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 7 Valdosta State softball team is set to travel to Pensacola, Fla., to take on No. 20 West Florida in the final regular-season Gulf South Conference series for the Blazers. The series is set to begin with a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, and will conclude on Sunday with a single game scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.
The Blazers (28-7, 20-3 GSC) are currently atop of the GSC standings and dropped four spots to No. 7 in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 after the series with Auburn Montgomery last weekend. The Blazers fell 9-5 in eight innings in game one against the Warhawks, bounced back in game two for a 14-6 victory in five innings and lost 9-5 in eight innings in the series finale.
For the series, VSU hit .341 against the Warhawks with 31 hits and eight home runs, while scoring 22 runs and slugging .604. The Blazers walked eight times and reached base at a .394 clip. Sophomore Taylor Macera went 6 for 10 from the dish, recording one home run and three RBI, while scoring four times. Graduate student Ally Clegg hit three home runs for the series and drove in a team-high six and scored five runs.
Defensively, VSU held AUM to a .209 batting average and 19 runs on 18 hits, but the nine miscues led to 13 unearned runs in the series. Sophomore Mia DeAngelis earned the lone win in 1.2 innings of work in relief in the 14-6 victory.
The Argos (26-11, 17-6 GSC) are coming off two wins over Delta State, taking game one of the doubleheader 8-3, and game two 9-2. On the season, UWF has 287 hits, 214 runs scored, 56 doubles, 11 triples, 35 home runs, and 189 RBI. Offensively, Teala Howard leads the Argos hitting .424 with 59 hits, eight doubles, 15 RBI, and 35 runs scored. Defensively, the Argos have a combined 2.87 ERA with 219 strikeouts and have given up 187 hits, 122 runs, and 105 free passes through 249 innings.
Nationally speaking, Howard is 31st in hits with 59 for third in the GSC, while she leads the GSC in stolen bases with 28 for 20th nationally. Howard is second in the GSC in triples with four. In the circle, Jeya Prasad is 13th nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (3.96), while Kelsey Sweatt is second in the GSC in strikeouts with 113. Sweatt threw her second career no-hitter on Wednesday against Spring Hill.
VSU leads the series with UWF 44-22 and went 5-1 last year against the Argos, all in Valdosta including winning two thrilling games on Regional Championship Sunday to advance to the D2 National Championship. This marks the first time the teams have played each other since 2019 (NCAA and GSC postseason) and the first regular season series at UWF since 2018. VSU is 14-11 in Pensacola since 2006.
Earlier this week the first NCAA South Region Poll was announced and the Blazers were third in the rankings behind Auburn Montgomery and Tampa. Nova Southeastern sits fourth, followed by Embry-Riddle, Alabama Huntsville, Rollins, Mississippi College, Saint Leo and West Florida is tenth.
The South Region will have eight teams qualify for the regional. Each of the three conferences in the region, the Gulf South, Sunshine State and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, will have each of the conference tournament champions earn an automatic bid to the regional.
This year, the format returns to two regional sites with four teams at each site, May 12-14. Normally the top two earn hosting duties. The winners of the two sites then will meet for a best-of-three series at the highest remaining seed May 19-20. The winner of the "Super Regional" will advance to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship, scheduled for May 26-30 at The Regency Athletic Complex in Denver, Colo.
This season, the Blazers are fourth nationally in home runs with 63 to lead the GSC, while the team is fifth nationally in slugging percentage at a .573 average, 12th in scoring (7.37 r/game) to lead the league and 22nd nationally in on base percentage at a .408 clip. In the circle, VSU leads the GSC with a 2.47 ERA for 42nd nationally, while the team is 18th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at a 3.76 clip for tops in the league. VSU is 28th nationally in WHIP to lead the league at a 1.14 clip.
Individually, Clegg is 14th nationally and second in the GSC in home runs with 13, while she is seventh in the league in RBI (38) and fourth in the league in slugging percentage at a .743 clip. Clegg is second in the GSC in toughest to strikeout at a 22.6 clip as she has fanned just five times all season in 113 at bats. She leads the team with 38 hits this season. She currently has reached base in 16-straight games for the second longest streak on the team this season. Sophomore Katie Proctor leads the team with a .381 average this season on 32 of 84. Sophomore Aniston Gano is second on the team in hits (35) and is tied for second in home runs with nine.
In the circle, junior Samantha Richards leads the GSC in strikeouts with 218 for eighth nationally, while she is 12th nationally in strikeouts per seven innings at a 10.0 clip. Richards is fourth nationally in victories with a 21-4 record, while her ERA is second in the GSC at a 1.74 clip. She is sixth nationally in complete games (19) and second in the GSC in WHIP at a 1.02 clip for 57th nationally.
Following the series with UWF, the Blazers will play host to Columbus State on April 27 for the final home regular season doubleheader of the season, then will travel to Young Harris on April 30, for the regular season finale doubleheader. The Gulf South Conference tournament begins on May 5 in Oxford, Ala., with VSU already clinching a berth in the tournament.
For all updates on Blazer softball visit vstateblazers.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.
