VALDOSTA, Ga. – Riding the ten-game winning streak, the Valdosta State softball team plays its first midweek games of the season in a doubleheader Tuesday at Georgia Southwestern beginning at 3 p.m.
 
The Blazers enter with a 17-11 record after sweeping its third-straight Gulf South Conference opponent over the weekend with a thrilling 5-4, walk-off victory Sunday versus Montevallo.  VSU swept the doubleheader on Saturday with the Falcons 5-0 and 9-7.  VSU's last winning streak of ten or more games came in 2021 when the team won 21-straight from Mar. 14 to May 1 as VSU advanced to the NCAA Division II National Championship in Denver, Colo.  
 
For this past weekend, the Blazers hit .329 with 26 hits, 19 runs scored, four home runs and 18 RBI, while slugging .461 and reaching base at a .430 clip with 14 walks.  Senior Aniston Gano hit a team-best .667 on 6 of 9 from the dish with three runs scored, two home runs and seven RBI.  She slugged 1.333 and reached base at a .727 clip with two walks and no strikeouts.  Junior Charlotte Phillips had the walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh with two out for the 5-4 win Sunday.  She finished the week with a .444 average on 4 of 9 from the plate with three runs scored, one home run and three RBI.  
 
In the circle, graduate student Claire Maulding finished with a 2-0 record in three appearances with two starts, one shutout and one save.  She had a 1.83 ERA in 15.1 innings of work, allowing 13 hits, four earned runs, walked four and fanned 11 as UM hit .228 against her.
 
For the ten game winning streak, Gano is hitting a staggering .552 on 16 of 29 from the plate with nine runs scored, one double, five home runs and 17 RBI.  She has ten walks for a .667 on base average and is slugging 1.103.  Senior Carly Bogart is hitting. 424 with 14 hits, ten runs scored, five home runs and 11 RBI.  Phillips is third on the team in average at a .393 clip on 11 of 28 from the dish with eight runs scored, one double, four home runs and 13 RBI.  As a team, the Blazers are hitting .326 with 69 runs scored, 85 hits, five doubles, 21 home runs and 67 RBI.  Maulding is 8-0 in nine appearances with seven starts, six complete games, two shutouts and one save.  She has pitched 49 innings allowing 37 hits, 14 runs – 12 earned, walked 22 and fanned 44 as teams are hitting .208 against her.
 
This season, the Blazers are hitting .306 in 28 games with 151 runs scored, 228 hits, 31 doubles, three triples, 39 home runs and 145 RBI.  The team is slugging .512 and reaching base at a .400 clip with 100 walks and 24 hit batters.  Gano leads the team with a .488 average on 41 of 84 from the plate.  She has scored 16 runs with three doubles, a team-high nine home runs and 32 RBI.  She is slugging .845 and reaching base at a .598 clip with 22 walks and just six strikeouts.  She has reached base in 22-staright games and leads the team with 12 multi-hit games this season.  Her 55 career home runs and is fifth all-time in VSU history behind 75 from Courtney Albritton (2011-15) who also leads the GSC record book, 58 from Abby Sulte (2022-24), 57 from Morgan Hill (2020-24) and 56 from Marti Littlefield (2009-12).  
 
Bogart is second in average at .368.  She has 33 hits with 17 runs scored, three doubles, one triple, eight home runs and 25 RBI.   Bogart has ten multi-hit games this season for second on the team.  Freshman Krisley Arnold is third in average at a .324 clip with 23 hits, 13 runs scored, four doubles, three home runs and nine RBI.  In the circle, Maulding is 13-6 overall with a 2.62 ERA in 21 appearances and 17 starts.  She has 14 complete games with four shutouts and two saves.  Maulding has pitched 112.1 innings, allowing 97 hits, 52 runs – 42 earned, walked 36 and fanned 107 as teams are hitting .228 against her.
 
Georgia Southwestern enters with a 15-13 record overall and a 4-5 mark in the Peach Belt Conference.  The Hurricanes have not played since a doubleheader sweep of Fort Valley State on Mar. 18, snapping a four-game skid.  The 'Canes were picked sixth in the preseason Peach Belt Conference poll out of nine teams.  GSW went 25-29 last season and 8-16 in league play.  This season, Cooper Watson leads the team hitting .356 with 16 hits in 45 at bats with 16 runs scored, five doubles, three home runs and eight RBI.  Madison Banks is second in average at a .354 clip with 23 hits, 12 runs scored, two doubles, two triples, two home runs and 10 RBI.  
 
The team is hitting .256 for the season with 144 runs scored, 174 hits, 32 doubles, seven triples, 29 home runs and 132 RBI.  The team is slugging .452 and reaching base at a .370 clip with 102 walks, 24 hit batters.  GSW has only allowed seven home runs this season.
 
In the circle, Graceanne Spears is 6-6 on the year with a 3.54 ERA in a team-high 65.1 innings. She has allowed 51 hits, 43 runs – 33 earned, walked 38 and fanned 74.  Pyper McCard is second in innings pitched at 50.2 and has a 3.32 ERA.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series with GSW 38-1.  The teams have not met since VSU swept a doubleheader in Valdosta on Apr. 4, 2023, winning 6-4 and 5-2.  GSW won its first game in the series with a 4-2 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Feb. 23, 2022, in Americus.  VSU is 11-1 all-time against GSW in Americus.  
 
The Blazers then return home to host a huge Gulf South Conference series Mar. 29-30 versus Mississippi College at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park.