DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.- The Valdosta State softball team dropped its first two matchups in the Embry-Riddle Tournament on Friday. The Blazers first dropped to the hosting-school, Embry-Riddle, 5-4, before falling to No. 10 Tampa in the nightcap, 4-2.

Following the first day of the tournament, VSU currently holds an overall record of 2-4 with four more matchups in Daytona on the horizon. Meanwhile, Embry-Riddle improved to 4-2 while Tampa now sits at 5-1.

GAME #1: Embry-Riddle 5, Valdosta State 4
In the first game of the day, Valdosta State got on the board early as junior Abby Sulte and senior Katie Proctor took back-to-back walks with two outs in the top of the first. VSU was able to capitalize off this opportunity as sophomore Saylor McNearney cracked a single up the middle to score Sulte and put Valdosta State up early, 1-0.

The Eagles struck back in the bottom of second as ERAU tallied a home run with one out to even the score at 1-1. In the top of the third, the Blazers struck back in explosive fashion as Sulte blasted her first home run of the season out to deep center, putting VSU up by one, 2-1.

In the top of fifth, Valdosta State took advantage of Embry-Riddle's early inning mistakes as senior Morgan Hill reached first on a fielding error to kick off the frame. McNearney then reached first on another fielding error as Hill raced around the base paths to make it home and put VSU up 3-1. Senior Aniston Gano capped off the Valdosta State rally, slicing a double to right field to score McNearney and boost the VSU lead to three, 4-1.

Embry-Riddle answered back in the bottom of the sixth with a homer to left center, cutting the lead down to two before a triple and a VSU error brought ERAU within one by the end of the sixth, 4-3. Then in the bottom of the seventh, with two outs and runners on second and third, Embry-Riddle's Shelby Morse singled up the middle to score both runners to claim the comeback win over the Blazers, 5-4.

Freshman Toree Wofford saw most of the action in the circle for the Blazers, going six innings with three strikeouts, allowing five hits and four runs while junior Sydney Ray (0-2) was credited with the loss following the blown save in the seventh. At the dish for the Blazers, Sulte had her most productive game of the young season, racking up one hit, two runs and one RBI with a monstrous home run in the top of the third to earn Guardian Bank Player of the Game honors.

Game #2: #10 Tampa 4, Valdosta State 2
The Blazers opened their second game of the day in spectacular fashion as graduate student Melkayla Irvis smacked a triple to right field in the top of the first. Sulte then cashed in a run with a single to put Valdosta State on the board early, 1-0.

The Spartans answered back quickly in the bottom of the first as a lead-off walk led to a run due to a wild pitch, a groundout, and a sacrifice fly, 1-1. Tampa ended up taking the lead in the bottom of the second as a Blazer throwing error led to a single that gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead.

VSU responded swiftly as Hill crushed a home run to right field in the top of the third to put the Blazers right back the contest, 2-2. However, Tampa remained resilient as the Spartans scored in the bottom of the third on a double to take the lead back, 3-2.

Tampa added on to its lead in the bottom of the fourth on a pair of double to go up a run, 4-2. For the remainder of the contest, the Blazers fought to get back into the game but were only able to come up with three hits and one walk in the final three innings of the game. By the end of the seventh, Valdosta State dropped its first meeting with Tampa this weekend, 4-2.

Graduate student Nadia Zenteno (1-2) had the start for the Blazers in the circle, recording her third complete game of the season while fanning five, walking two and allowing four runs on six hits. Hill led the Blazers at the plate in the game, tallying two hits for one run and one RBI as she tacked on her third home run of the season to earn Guardian Bank Player of the Game honors.

The Valdosta State softball team will be right back in action tomorrow as it faces Tampa one more time at 3 p.m. before taking on Eckerd at 5 p.m. For information on those matchups as well as all things Blazer softball, visit vstateblazers.com.