VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State head softball coach Thomas Macera announced the 2026 Blazer softball schedule, featuring a packed slate of competitive regional matchups, Gulf South Conference battles, and 19 home games at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park. 
 
Macera enters his 21^st season at the helm of the Blazers and he is 832-291-2.  The 2026 schedule features 51 games, along with 30 Gulf South Conference contests as the Blazers look to return to the NCAA postseason for the first time since a Super Regional appearance in 2022.  Macera has led VSU to seven of the program's nine GSC titles, while he has one national title (2012).  
 
The season begins Jan. 30 as the Blazers open at the Gulf Shores Invitational in Gulf Shores, Ala. VSU kicks off the year facing Spring Hill College, Rogers State, Saint Leo, Florida Tech, North Georgia and Middle Georgia, with two games on Jan. 30, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.  
 
Valdosta State then turns its attention to a challenging early-season road swing as it travels to North Georgia to face the Nighthawks in a doubleheader on Feb. 7.  It marks the first time the Blazers have played in Dahlonega, Ga., since splitting a doubleheader there in 2011.  Including the weekend before meeting in Gulf Shores, the last six meetings all have been at neutral sites – five in Gulf Shores and once in Denver, Colo, in the 2021 Division II National Championship rounds.  The two teams have split 12 meetings in series history, but the Blazers have won five of the past eight. 
 
Following the twin bill at UNG, the Blazers head to Saint Augustine, Fla., for the Old Coast Classic with games against Flagler, Saint Leo twice and Chowan, Feb. 14-15.  VSU then opens the always challenging GSC slate on the road making its first trip in program history to Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, Tenn., for a three-game series Feb. 21-22.  The Trevecca Nazarene Trojans finished their first season in the GSC with a 28-19 record overall and a 16-17 record in league play as they claimed the three-game series in Valdosta, winning two of three in 2025.
 
VSU finally begins the 2026 home slate at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park on Feb. 28-Mar. 1 hosting rival The University of Alabama in Huntsville, followed by a road trip at West Alabama (Mar. 7-8), before returning home to host Delta State (Mar. 14-15) and a midweek doubleheader versus Rollins on Mar. 18.   The Blazers then have trips to Montevallo (Mar. 20-21) and Mississippi College (Mar. 28-29), before opening April with five-straight at home versus Auburn Montgomery (Apr. 3-4) and a midweek twin bill against Georgia Southwestern on Apr. 7.  
 
The final four league series conclude the regular season beginning with a trip to Lee (Apr. 10-11) while the Blazers host Christian Brothers (Apr. 18-19), followed by a trip to Pensacola, Fla., to face West Florida (Apr. 24-25) and then at home versus Union (May 2-3) for Senior Weekend.  
 
The 2026 Gulf South Conference Championship returns to Oxford, Ala., and Choccolocco Park, scheduled for May 6-9, followed by the NCAA South Regional May 14-16 at campus sites. The Super Regionals are scheduled for May 21-22 and the NCAA Division II Softball National Championship returns to Chattanooga, Tenn., May 28-June 3.  
 
For the 2026 slate, the Blazers face nine teams who made the NCAA postseason in 2025, including; Spring Hill College, Saint Leo, West Florida, Mississippi College, Auburn Montgomery, Flagler, North Georgia, Georgia Southwestern and Rogers State which account for 20 of the 51 games scheduled this season.  AUM and North Georgia advanced to the Super Regionals last season, while UNG reached the national championship rounds.
 
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