VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State softball team returns home to host No. 24 Mississippi College Friday and Saturday at Steel's Diamond for a huge Gulf South Conference series.  
 
The Blazers and Choctaws will play a doubleheader beginning Friday at 1 p.m., followed by a single game Saturday at 12 p.m.  VSU enters with an 18-12 record overall and a 13-4 mark in GSC play, while MC is 24-8 overall and 14-4 in league play.  MC and West Florida lead the league standings at 14-4 each, while VSU sits a half game back and Auburn Montgomery (13-5) is a full game back.  Ironically, West Florida hosts AUM this weekend also.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming at vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page.  Wade Beale will have the call of the games on FloCollege.  
 
VSU is coming off a 1-1 doubleheader split at Georgia Southwestern on Tuesday.  The Blazers responded from an early deficit scoring two runs in the top of the seventh for a 5-3 victory in the opener.  Junior Charlotte Phillips hit a two RBI double to left field in the seventh breaking the 3-3 tie.  Graduate student pitcher Claire Maulding improved to 14-6 overall allowing six hits, three runs – two earned, walked one and fanned eight.  

In the nightcap, VSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from senior Aniston Gano, but GSW plated five runs in the bottom of the inning, before VSU rallied with two runs in the fourth on a home run from Gano and a sacrifice fly and two more in the top of the seventh as VSU had the tying run at third, losing 6-5.  
 
The Choctaws enter winners of 15-straight games for the fourth-longest current streak in NCAA Division II.  Tampa has won 25-straight games, while Colorado Mesa and Southern Arkansas each have won 16-straight.  MC is under the direction of first year head coach Leigh Streetman and the Choctaws are 23^rdnationally and tops in the GSC in doubles with 58.  MC is third in the GSC in batting average at a .318 clip, while the team has been solid in the circle and defensively this season.  The Choctaws boast a 2.42 ERA for 34^th nationally and second in the league, while the team is fifth nationally in shutouts with ten for tops in the league.  MC leads the GSC in strikeout-to-walk ratio at a 3.64 clip for 18^th nationally and leads the league in strikeouts per seven innings at a 6.84 clip for 24^th nationally. 
 
Individually, Blakely Gill is second in the league in batting average at a .462 clip behind VSU's Gano at .483.  Gill is 35^th nationally in average, while she leads the league with 13 doubles for ninth nationally.  She is third in the league in on base average at a .504 clip and third in the league in slugging percentage at a .760 average.  In the circle, Camryn Bailey is second in the GSC in ERA at a 1.56 clip for 39^th nationally, while she has 14 starts and 90 innings of work.  Bailey has 103 strikeouts for third in the GSC and 25^th nationally.  Bailey has 11 victories for the season for 25^th nationally.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series 22-19 dating back to Apr. 24, 1987.  The Choctaws have won five-straight in the series and seven of ten.  VSU is 10-4 against MC in Valdosta and went 2-1 against the Choctaws in Valdosta on Feb. 18-19, 2023.  
 
This season, the Blazers are ninth nationally in home runs (40) to lead the league, while the team is 25^thnationally and second in the league in slugging percentage at a .503 clip.  VSU is second in the league and 42^nd nationally in walks with 107.  The Blazers are fifth in the GSC in batting average at a .301 clip.  VSU has 240 hits for fifth in the league and 161 runs scored for fourth in the league this season.
 
Gano is 13^th nationally and tops in the GSC in batting average at a .483 clip on 43 of 89 from the dish.  She is 16^th nationally and tops in the GSC in home runs (10) as she has 56 home runs for her storied career.  Courtney Albritton (2011-2015) leads the school and GSC record book with 75 career home runs, while Abby Sulte (2022-2024) has 58 home runs for second in program history and Morgan Hill (2020-2024) has 57 dingers, while Gano and Marti Littlefield (2009-2012) are tied for fourth with 56 each.  Gano is tenth nationally in on base percentage at a .588 clip to lead the league, while she is second in the GSC and 20^thnationally in slugging percentage at a .854 average.  Gano leads the GSC in RBI with 34 for 38^th nationally.  
 
In the circle, Maulding is fourth nationally in complete games (15) for tops in the GSC, while she is seventh nationally in games started (18) for second in the league.  She is seventh nationally in innings pitched (119.1) for second in the league, while she is second in the league in strikeouts (115) for 13^th nationally.  Maulding is 14-6 on the year and her 14^th wins are good for seventh nationally and tops in the league.  
 
Following the series versus Mississippi College, VSU continues at home next Wednesday for a doubleheader versus Columbus State on Apr. 2, at 4 p.m. at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park.