VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off a weekend series at No. 18 West Florida, the No. 10 Valdosta State softball team is set to conclude its 2022 home campaign, versus Columbus State in a midweek, non-conference twin bill Wednesday beginning at 3 p.m. at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park.
The Blazers, who dropped to No. 10 this week in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25, are 29-9 overall this season. The Cougars travel to TitleTown with a 25-21 record and a 14-7 mark in the Peach Belt Conference. The Blazers are 4-0 with Columbus State in the past four meetings, including a 5-4 victory in 2018 in the last matchup between the two teams.
CSU is coming off a series sweep over Georgia College last weekend, taking the first game 7-3 and then completing the series sweep with a doubleheader on Saturday taking the first game 12-6 and the final game 16-4. Hanna Rose Corbin has a team-high .365 batting average for CSU through 115 at-bats. Morgan Elston has a team-high, tied ninth nationally, 15 home runs on the year along with 30 runs, 42 hits and 45 RBI through 137 at-bats.
Defensively, Corbin has spent the most time in the circle for CSU and has recorded 174 strikeouts and has held her opponents to 134 hits, 84 runs, 98 walks and eight home runs through 589 at-bats for a 2.98 ERA. The Cougar pitching staff has combined for 291 total strikeouts along with 315 hits, 204 runs, 175 walks and 33 home runs through 1,218 at-bats for a combined 3.63 ERA.
Last week, the first NCAA South Region Poll was announced, having the Blazers third in the rankings behind Auburn Montgomery and Tampa. Nova Southeastern sat fourth in the poll, followed by Embry-Riddle, Alabama Huntsville, Rollins, Mississippi College, Saint Leo and West Florida rounding out the top 10.
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 third nationally in home runs with 66 to lead the GSC, while the team is ninth nationally in slugging percentage at a .558 average and 27th nationally in on-base percentage at a .404 clip. In the circle, VSU leads the GSC with a 2.30 ERA for 36th nationally, while the team is 23rd nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at a 3.46 clip. VSU is 30th nationally in WHIP to lead the league at a 1.14 clip.
Individually, graduate Ally Clegg is tied 22nd nationally and second in the GSC in home runs with 13, while she is seventh in the league in RBI (39) and sixth in the league in slugging percentage at a .710 clip. She leads the team with 41 hits this season. Sophomore Katie Proctor leads the team with a .362 average this season going 34 of 94. Senior Nikki Pennington is second on the team in hits (38) and is second in home runs with 11.
In the circle, junior Samantha Richards leads the GSC in strikeouts with 235 for seventh nationally. Richards has a league-leading, 45th lowest nationally, 1.58 ERA through 168 innings. She has held her opponents to 123 hits, 63 runs, 38 being earned, 47 walks and 14 home runs. She is currently tied second nationally with 21 complete games, 7th in strikeouts and is tied sixth in victories with 21. League-wise, Richards tops the table in wins, complete games, innings pitched, strikeouts and strikeouts looking.
Following the doubleheader with CSU, the team 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.
