INDIANAPOLIS, IND.- The No. 22-ranked Valdosta State softball team learned Wednesday afternoon it is number four in the in the second South Region NCAA Division II Poll, announced by the national office.

In the second South Region Poll, Tampa sits at first followed by Saint Leo, Alabama Huntsville, Valdosta State, and Mississippi College rounding out the top five. Nova Southeastern is sixth followed by West Alabama, Auburn Montgomery, Embry-Riddle, and Florida Tech in the tenth spot.

In subsequent weeks, the teams will be ranked with the third ranking scheduled for a week from today (May 2) before the NCAA announces the field for the 2023 NCAA Division II Softball Championship on May 8 at 10 a.m. ET on NCAA.com

The South Region will have eight teams qualify for the regional from the announcement on May 8.  Each of the three conferences in the region, the Gulf South, Sunshine State and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, will have each of its conference tournament champions earn an automatic berth to the regional.

This year, the NCAA South Regional is scheduled for May 11-13, 2023.  Normally the top two seeds earn hosting duties.  Each of the two sites is comprised of four teams in a double-elimination format.  The two winners of each site then meet at the site of the highest remaining seed for a best-of-three series, May 18-19.  The winner of the "Super Regional" will advance to the NCAA Division II Softball National Championship, scheduled for May 25-31 at Frost Stadium at Warner Park in Chattanooga, Tenn.

VSU sits at No. 22 in the newest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 with a 32-12 record overall and an 18-9 mark in GSC play.  

The Blazers are set to host GSC foe, West Florida, in the final regular season series of the year this weekend. The series gets underway with a single game on Friday Apr. 28 at 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. Prior to the first game on Saturday, three Blazer seniors will be honored as part of a special senior day celebration taking place twenty minutes before the first pitch.

Following last weekend's series with AUM, the Blazers will have played each of the teams under consideration for the regional as the only team in the region to do so. 

The Blazers already have clinched a spot in the upcoming Gulf South Conference Championship, May 3-6 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala, ranking fifth in league standings.

VSU is looking for its 21st trip to the Big Dance in 2023.  The Blazers came up just short of a berth in the 2022 National Championship rounds with a heartbreaking, 2-1 series loss at Auburn Montgomery in the Super Regional last year.  VSU won the first game of the series at AUM, but was unable to close out the Warhawks, falling 3-2 and 2-1 in the final two games.

The Blazers are 64-44 (.593) all-time in the NCAA postseason and have qualified in each of the last 16 tournaments played.  The Blazers won the national title in 2012 and have runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2014.  VSU's 64 wins are tied for sixth all-time in NCAA Division II, while the 16-straight appearances in the NCAA postseason are good for the second-longest current streak in D2.