HUNTSVILLE, Ala.- The No. 9 Valdosta State softball team fell in the Gulf South Conference series finale against No. 5 Alabama Huntsville on Sunday afternoon, 7-6.
With the loss the Blazers fell to 32-9 overall and 18-6 in GSC play while UAH improved to 36-7 overall and 21-2 in conference play.
The Blazer offense came out swinging early as junior
Morgan Hill smashed a lead-off homer in the top of the first to give VSU an immediate 1-0 lead. A couple of batters later and junior
Taylor Macera cracked a solo home run of her own to put the Blazers up 2-0 by the end of the top of the first. However, the Chargers struck back with a run in the bottom of the first behind a groundout to advance a runner home from third as the Blazer lead was cut to one, 2-1.
UAH ended up taking the lead in the bottom of the second behind a pair of doubles and a home run to go up by three, 5-2. The Chargers then tacked on another solo home run in the bottom of the third to go up 6-2 before adding on one more run in the bottom of the fourth, 7-2.
The Blazers made things interesting in the top of the fifth as Hill, freshman
Jayme Prandine and Sophomore
Abby Sulte had three consecutive hits to score a run and cut the Chargers lead to four, 7-3. The Blazer offense was not done scoring yet as senior
Taylor Lewis took a hit by pitch walk to put two Blazers on base. Freshman
Lexi Patterson then blasted a three-run home run to bring VSU within one, 7-6.
The Blazers showed resiliency and continued to fight inning after inning, but ended up falling just short by the end of the seventh inning as UAH scored the series finale victory, 7-6.
In the circle for the Blazers, senior
Samantha Richards recorded her 25
th complete game of the season and fifth loss of the year (23-5). In six total innings of work, she tallied two strikeouts, four walks and allowed 11 hits for seven runs. At the dish, Patterson had two hits for one run and three RBI on her three-run homer to earn Guardian Bank Player of the Game honors.
The Blazers will hit the road once again next week to take on Auburn Montgomery in a three game conference series. Action begins with a doubleheader set for April 22 at 2 p.m. ET. For live stats, streaming, rosters and all things Valdosta State softball, visit vstateblazers.com.
