OXFORD, Ala. – The No. 10 Valdosta State softball team bowed out of the 2022 Gulf South Conference Tournament with a 6-4 loss to No. 4 Auburn Montgomery in an elimination game for both teams Friday afternoon.
VSU now stands at 34-11 and will await a potential at large berth to the NCAA South Regional as the NCAA Division II Softball Championship field is scheduled to be unveiled Monday at 10 a.m. ET on NCAA.com. The Blazers entered the GSC Tournament at No. 3 in the most recent NCAA South Region Championship which was released on Wednesday. AUM improved to 40-9 on the year.
The Blazers got out of a tight jam in the bottom of the first with a leadoff single and a walk as a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. VSU junior hurler
Samantha Richards came back with a strikeout and a foul out to get out of the jam. The strikeout gave Richards 580 for her career, tying her with Karie Newton for most all-time in school history.
In the top of the second, sophomore
Katie Proctor began with a single to left, followed by an RBI double from sophomore
Taylor Macera for a 1-0 lead. Redshirt senior
Baylee Everson hit a sacrifice fly, plating Macera for a 2-0 lead.
AUM responded in the bottom of the second with two singles and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third. Haley Ann Frank singled up the middle on a 2-2 count, plating one run and then Olivia Aycock hit a sacrifice fly for a 2-2 score. AUM's Gia Martin hit a solo shot in the bottom of the third for a 3-2 in the bottom of the third.
The game remained 3-2 until the bottom of the fifth with a pair of RBI sacrifice bunts for a 5-2 lead for AUM. The Warhawks swelled the lead to 6-2 with an RBI single from Kat Fallen in the bottom of the sixth.
Down to their final at bat, junior
Hunter Meadows reached first on a miscue by the Warhawks and moved to third on a fly out. Senior
Nikki Pennington blasted her 14
th home run of the season and her 44
th of her career for fourth all-time in school history for a 6-4 deficit. VSU was unable to get the equalizing score.
For the game, VSU had four runs on four hits with no errors, while AUM had six runs on ten hits and one error. Pennington finished 1 of 4 with a run scored, two RBI and the home run, while Macera was 1 for 3 with a run scored, a double and one RBI. Richards (25-8) went six innings allowing ten hits, six earned runs, walked five and fanned two.
For the Warhawks, Frank went 3 for 3 with one RBI, while Martin was 1 for 2 with two runs scored, one RBI, a home run and two walks. In the circle, Morgan Ferguson went 1.2 innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs, walked two and fanned one, while Avery Dickerson (8-1) went 5.1 innings, allowing the one hit on the home run from Pennington, two runs – one earned, walked three and fanned three.
