VALDOSTA, Ga.- The No. 12-ranked Valdosta State softball team opens the 2022 NCAA South Regional #2 with Rollins College Thursday at 3 p.m. at The University of Tampa.
 
The Blazers enter as the No. 3-seed in the South Regional Pod #2, while Rollins is the No. 6-seed.  The host Tampa Spartans are the No. 2-seed, while Embry-Riddle is the No. 7-seed.  In South Regional Pod #1, host and top-seed Auburn Montgomery battles Tuskegee and No. 4-seed Nova Southeastern faces No. 5-seed Alabama Huntsville.  South Region Pod #1 will be in Montgomery, Ala.  The winners of each pod will then meet in a "Super Regional" May 19-20 at the highest remaining seed in a best-of-three series to decide who goes to the NCAA Division II National Championship, scheduled for May 26-31 at The Regency Athletic Complex in Denver, Colo.
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more by clicking here for the NCAA South Regional #2 Championship webpage.  The Blazer games also will be broadcast on the radio and Thursday's contest will be on 94.3 WJEM Fox Sports Valdosta and at www.foxsportsvaldosta.com with Matt Malone having the call.  Friday's contest will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM on www.talk921.com.  For games following Friday, check back with vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page for the most updated information on broadcasts.  
 
Following the conference tournament, VSU dropped two spots to 12^th in the newest NFCA Top 25.  UT Tyler (Texas) enters the NCAA postseason as the top team in the country with all 16 first-place votes and 400 points.  Texas A&M-Kingsville remained second this week, while Auburn Montgomery moved up one spot from fourth to third.  Rogers State (Okla.) is fourth this week, followed by Indianapolis. Tampa moved from eighth to sixth.  Alabama Huntsville moved into the top 25 this week at 24^th, while Nova Southeastern is the top team receiving votes for others from the South Region.  
 
The Blazers are making their 16^th-straight trip to the NCAA postseason in 2022, as it is the second-longest current active streak in the country behind Alabama Huntsville's 19-straight appearances.  VSU is 56-38 all-time in the NCAA postseason in 18 previous appearances, as the 56 victories are good for eighth-most all-time in Division II.  VSU won the national championship exactly ten years ago in 2012, and was runner-up in 2010 and 2014.
 
Rollins makes its 11^th trip to the tournament and the Tars are 16-20 all-time, including last season when VSU eliminated Rollins in Valdosta, 5-2.  This marks Rollins' first back-to-back appearances since 2014-2016.  Embry-Riddle is making its second appearance in the tournament and first since 2018 when the Eagles went 0-2, in Florence, Ala.   Tampa is making its 12^th appearance in the tournament and first since 2019 as the Spartans are 16-22 all-time.  Tampa defeated VSU in the 2019 tournament in Pensacola, Fla., 1-0 in nine innings in the first game of the tournament for both teams.
 
The Tars enter the postseason 31-10 overall and went 22-8 in Sunshine State Conference play.  Hurler Ashley Worrell was named SSC Pitcher of the Year and first team all-conference, while Raiven Bryant and Chelsea Peace also earned first team honors.  Ashley Troutman and Grace Germer were second team honorees, while Bryant, Troutman and Peace were all honored on the All-Defensive Team.  
 
Worrell went 16-5 with two saves, posting a 1.11 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP during the regular season. She tossed 14 complete games, including 11 shutouts, and struck out 148 batters in 157.1 innings pitched. She was also productive at the plate, batting .272 with five doubles, two home runs, 18 RBIs and 14 runs scored.  Bryant led the team with 48 hits during the regular season, batting .366 with four doubles, three home runs, 23 RBIs, and 27 runs scored. Her .466 slugging percentage was second-highest on the team, and her 12 stolen bases ranked third. She earned her spot on the All-Defensive team with a .970 fielding percentage at second base, making just five errors in 164 chances.  Peace was tops on the team in doubles (8), home runs (8), RBIs (27), total bases (78), slugging percentage (.650), and OPS (1.089). Her .367 batting average and 44 hits were also second on the team, and she was one of three Tars with more walks (12) than strikeouts (11). Peace was selected to the All-Defensive team on account of her .993 fielding percentage, making just two errors in 302 chances, along with throwing out 20 of the 40 would-be base-stealers against her.  
 
Troutman and Germer also had good seasons for first year head coach Christine Roser-LeFevers.  Troutman hit .292 and led the team with 22 stolen bases and 28 runs scored.  She belted five doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI.  She made just five miscues for the season for a .966 fielding percentage in 145 chances.  Germer led the team with a .382 average and a .481 on-base clip, registering 34 hits, while stealing ten bags.  
 
As a team, the Tars are sixth nationally in ERA at a 1.52 clip for second in the SSC, while they are fourth nationally in WHIP at a 0.93 clip also good for second in the league.  Rollins is 32^nd nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.20) for third in the league and 25^th nationally in fielding percentage at a .970 clip for second in the league.  Individually, Worrell is 14^th nationally in ERA at a 1.11 clip, while she is 11^th in hits allowed/7 innings (3.96) to lead the league.  She is second in the league in strikeouts with 148, while she is ninth nationally in WHIP at a 0.82 mark.  
 
Roser-LeFevers is 47-43 in her third season of coaching and first at her alma mater.  She spent the previous two years as head coach at Mars Hill in North Carolina, going 16-33.  She graduated in 2011 from Rollins as the most decorated player in school history.  She led the team to three-straight league titles and played in the NCAA postseason all four years.  She earned NFCA All-America honors twice and was named the Diamond Catch of the Year in both 2009 and 2011.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series with Rollins 5-2-1 since Feb. 28, 2004.  The Blazers won the last meeting 5-2 in Valdosta in the NCAA South Regional on May 21, 2021, and has won four of the last five meetings.  Prior to last season, the teams hadn't met since 2016.  Thursday's matchup will be the third times the teams have met in the NCAA postseason with both teams winning once previously (2016 and 2021).
 
The Blazers swept a doubleheader from Embry-Riddle early in the season in Daytona Beach, Fla.  VSU won the opener 9-2 and the nightcap 5-0.  Offensively, VSU hit .262 for the series with 16 hits in 61 at bats, while scoring 14 runs with one double, two triples, three home runs and 13 RBI.  VSU walked 11 times with one hit batter and struck out just six times.  The Blazers went 7 of 7 in stolen bases.  It was a balanced offensive attack for the Blazers in the series as sophomore Morgan Hill led the team with three hits, scoring three runs with one triple and one RBI.  Three different Blazers had home runs in the series.  In the circle, junior Samantha Richards and Hill both pitched complete games.  Richards allowed four hits, two runs – one earned, walked three and fanned 12, while Hill tossed a complete game shutout, allowing five hits, walked one and fanned two.  VSU held ERAU to a .173 batting average and fanned the Eagles 14 times.  
 
This season, the Eagles are led by two all-conference players Mahaliyah Sandridge earned first team honors, while Lauren Latoria earned second team accolades.  The duo helped ERAU to a 28-16 record to this point and a 19-11 mark in league play under head coach Kelsi Dunne.  Dunne is 191-112 at ERAU since she was hired in 2014.  Sandridge played in all 44 games thus far and was in the top third of the batting order for all but two contests.  She led the Eagles in runs (37), doubles (11), triples (5), home runs (5), slugging percentage (.606), and on-base percentage (.431). Additionally, Sandridge notched a .343 batting average, 24 RBI, and six swiped bags. Sandridge finished in the top 10 in the league in slugging (2nd), triples (2nd), doubles (5th), runs (6th), and on-base percentage (7th).  
 
Latoria saw action in 43 games on the year and started 38. Her .402 slugging percentage ranked second only to Sandridge while her .321 average and seven doubles were third best on the squad. Latoria also tallied five runs, 15 RBI, and a stolen base. Latoria got off to a hot start to the 2022 season with a five-game hitting streak. Additionally, she accumulated seven multi-hit contests.
 
Nationally speaking, the Eagles lead the SSC in triples (15) for 32^nd nationally, while they are fourth in the league in doubles (48).  They are fourth in the SSC in stolen bases with 78 for 57^th nationally, while they are 42^nd nationally in WHIP at a 1.21 clip.  Individually, Kelsi Collins is 11^th nationally and tops in the conference in complete games with 23, while she is seventh in the league in hits allowed per seven innings at a 5.25 clip and is 19^th nationally in victories to lead the league (20).  Lia Johnson is 20^th nationally and second in the league in stolen bases with 32, while Sandridge is 36^th nationally in triples (5).
 
VSU leads the all-time series with ERAU 4-0, including the two victories this season.  The teams met on Feb. 8, 2020, in St. Augustine Florida as VSU won 7-5 and also in St. Augustine on Feb. 8, 2015, with VSU winning 11-2 in five innings.  
 
The Spartans, who are ranked eighth in the latest NFCA Top 25, enter postseason at 35-11 overall and went 23-7 in SSC play.  UT won a pair of one-run games over VSU the same weekend as the Blazers won both over ERAU.  The Spartans won the first game 2-1 and the second 3-2.  This season, six different Spartans earned All-SSC honors as Lilly Kiester earned Freshman of the Year honors, Mary Beth Feldman was named Pitcher of the Year (sharing the honor with Rollins' Worrell), while Mariah Galhouse and Corynn Miner earned first team honors.  Tampa honored Lexie Chevalier on the second team, while Lauren Fantone earned All-Defensive Team accolades and second team all-league accolades. 
 
Feldman appeared in 17 games in 2022 and made 14 starts for the Spartans. She closed out the regular season with a 13-1 record, 11 complete games, and six shutouts. The Lithia, Florida product struck out 86 batters and produced a 0.43 ERA and a 0.753 WHIP in her 97 innings pitched while holding opposing batters to a .164 average.  Kiester started 31 of Tampa's 46 games this season and provided her team with 25 hits and a .338 batting average. The Tampa native scored 16 times, drove in six runs, and swiped three bases in 2022. Defensively, the outfielder sported a perfect fielding percentage following 38 putouts and two assists in 40 chances. 
 
Head coach Leslie Kanter is in her 28^th season at Tampa and is 727-472 at the helm of the Spartans.  She boasts the nation's top ERA at a 1.12 clip, while the Spartans are seventh nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.60), fifth in shutouts (18), 37^th in double plays (18), second in WHIP (0.87) and 18^th in fielding percentage at a .972 clip.  Individually, Feldman leads the nation in ERA at a 0.43 clip, while Galhouse is third nationally in ERA at 0.77.  Feldman is 12^th nationally in hits allowed per seven innings (3.97), while Galhouse is 43^rd (4.98).  Galhouse is 36^th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.29) for second in the SSC and Feldman is third in the league at 4.78 for 48^th nationally, while Miner is fourth at 4.17 for 69^th nationally.  Feldman is sixth in WHIP (0.75), while Galhouse is 11^th at 0.83 and Miner has a 1.03 average for seventh in the SSC.  Galhouse leads the team with an 0.82 walks allowed per seven innings clip for 13^th nationally.  
 
In the two meetings earlier this season, VSU hit .208 against the Spartans, scoring three runs with ten hits, three doubles, one home run and three RBI.  The Blazers walked just once and struck out seven times as thee different Blazers had two hits each.  VSU took a 1-0 lead in the opener in the second inning, but Galhouse blasted a two run shot in the fourth.  VSU had two hits in the seventh but was unable to get the equalizer.  In the nightcap, the Blazers tied the score in their last at bat with two runs in the seventh, but a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh gave UT the 3-2 victory.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series with Tampa 32-12, but the Spartans have won the last five meetings in the series.  All five victories have been by one run.  Prior to that, VSU had won 11-straight and 13 of 14.  VSU is 6-2 all-time against Tampa in the postseason.     
 
The Blazers enter the postseason winners of five of their last seven, but went just 3-6 against the GSC opposition including the conference tournament down the stretch.  Head coach Thomas Macera is 733-213-2 (.774) at VSU in his 17^th season.  Macera, for his outstanding career, is 939-287-2, while he is 48-30 in the NCAA postseason at VSU.
 
This season, Richards earned GSC Pitcher of the Year honors for the second-straight season.  She was named to the 2022 Schutt Sports / NFCA Division II Player & Pitcher of the Year Top 25, announced Monday.  She is the only player in the regional (both pods) to be named to the Top 25.  Richards is 25-8 this season with a 1.64 ERA in 208.2 innings of work.  She has appeared in 36 contests with 27 starts and 26 complete games, along with throwing six shutouts and has registered two saves.  Richards has allowed 153 hits, 79 runs – 49 earned, walked 57 and fanned 281 as teams are hitting .197 against her.  

Nationally speaking, Richards is second in complete games with 26, while she is 46^th nationally in ERA (1.64), 17^th in appearances (36), seventh in strikeouts (281), 18^th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.4), fourth in victories (25) and 48^th in WHIP (1.01).  She eclipsed 500 career strikeouts this season and set the school-record for strikeouts (581) surpassing previous school record-holder Katie Newton's 580 strikeouts.  The 581 K's are good for eighth all-time in GSC history as she is just 26 shy of Sage Woodham's (UAH) 607 strikeouts (2006-09).  She boasts a 57-18 record for her career.
 
Offensively, graduate student Ally Clegg and senior Nikki Pennington are 23^rd nationally and second in the GSC in home runs each with 14, while Pennington is fourth in the GSC in slugging percentage at a .704 clip, while Clegg is sixth at .678.  Clegg is seventh in the GSC in RBI with 45.  Sophomore Katie Proctor leads the team in average at a .359 clip, while Clegg leads the team in hits (48) and third in average at a .329 clip. 
 
As a team, the Blazers are 36^th nationally and tops in the GSC in ERA at a 2.38 clip, while the team is fourth nationally in home runs (72) to lead the GSC.  The Blazers are 20^th nationally and best in the league in scoring at 6.73 runs per game, while they are 17^th nationally and best in the league in slugging percentage at a .530 clip.  VSU is 17^th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.54) to lead the league, while it is 27^th nationally in WHIP at a 1.13 average and 16^th in walks (178) for fourth in the league.