VALDOSTA, Ga.- The No. 10 Valdosta State softball team completed a three-game Gulf South Conference series sweep of Lee, winning two in a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. VSU took game one, 10-1, in five innings before finishing up the doubleheader with a five inning, 10-1 victory in game two.
With the sweep, the Blazers improved to 28-5 overall and 16-2 in GSC play while Lee fell to 9-26 overall and 4-14 in conference play.
Game #1: #10 Valdosta State 10, Lee 1 (5 Innings)
The Blazer offense got off to an early start in the bottom of the first as junior
Morgan Hill got on base following a Lee miscue and senior
Taylor Lewis reached on a fielder's choice. This set the stage for junior
Taylor Macera smacking a base hit up the middle to send Hill home and put VSU up 1-0. With Macera on first and Lewis on second, junior
Mackenzie Kilpatrick crushed a three-run homer to add to the VSU lead, 4-0.
Lee answered back in the top of the second with a solo shot to center, cutting the VSU lead to three, 4-1. However, the Blazers tacked on a couple of runs in the bottom of the third as freshman
Jayme Prandine singled to third before sophomore
Abby Sulte blasted a two-run home run to right field, putting the Blazers up 6-1.
The Blazers came right back in the bottom of the fourth with freshman
Jasmin Stewart taking a leadoff walk to begin the inning. Junior
Kinzie Nelson then smashed a two-run homer to left field, putting the Blazers up seven, 8-1. Prandine then doubled to center and advanced to third before Sulte cracked her second homer of the game for two more runs, giving Valdosta State a nine-run edge, 10-1. Senior
Samantha Richards and the Blazer defense locked down for three quick outs in the top of the fifth to end the game behind the eight-run rule. The Blazers took the first game of the day and second game of the series, 10-1 in five innings.
In the circle for the Blazers, Richards recorded her 20
th complete game and 21
st win of the season. In five innings of action, she tallied six strikeouts, no walks and three hits for one run. At the dish for VSU, Sulte tallied two hits for two runs and four RBI on a pair of two-run homers to earn Guardian Bank Player of the Game honors.
Game #2: #10 Valdosta State 10, Lee 1 (5 Innings)
The second game of the afternoon had a much slower start than the first with no runs being scored until the fourth inning. In the top of the fourth, the Flames struck first with a solo home run to go up 1-0. The Blazers answered back immediately in the bottom of the frame as Sulte singled to left field followed by Macera hitting the go-ahead, two-run bomb to go up 2-1. The Flames walked three in a row before freshman
Saylor McNearney took a bases loaded walk to build the Blazer lead to 3-1. With the bases still loaded, Hill singled to right center to send two Blazers home and give Valdosta State a 5-1 lead in the blink of an eye.
The VSU offense was not done yet as Sulte took a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth and Lewis singled to put two Blazers on base early. Freshman
Evie Pitts was put on for first base for Lewis before Kilpatrick smacked a single to left center, scoring Sulte and Pitts to put VSU up six, 7-1. With Kilpatrick on base, Nelson took a walk before McNearney crushed a game-ending three-run homer to put VSU up 10-1. The eight-run rule was then put in place as Valdosta State took the series finale with Lee, 10-1.
Two Blazers took the circle in the second game, but sophomore
Madison Lumpp was credited with the win to bring her season record to 5-0. In four innings of action, Lumpp tallied two strikeouts, no walks and one run on three hits while Richards closed out the game in the top of the fifth. At the plate for the Blazers, McNearney tallied one run for one hit and four RBI with the game-ending three-run homer to earn Guardian Bank Player of the Game honors.
The Blazers will return to action on Tuesday, April 4 as they host Georgia Southwestern in a doubleheader set for 4 p.m. For live stats, streaming, ticket information and all things Valdosta State softball, visit vstateblazers.com.
