VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State softball team returns to the road with a three-game series at Christian Brothers this weekend.  The Blazers enter the week with a 24-19 record overall, while the team is 17-9 in Gulf South Conference play.
 
Fans can access links to live video and live stats at vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page. The games will be broadcast on FloCollege.
 
Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, Auburn Montgomery leads the way with a 20-7 record in league play, while Mississippi College and West Florida each are 18-9, followed by VSU.  West Alabama sits at 17-10 and Alabama Huntsville is 16-10 in GSC play.  All six teams already have qualified for the Gulf South Conference Championships at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala., Apr. 30 – May 3.  
 
The Blazers went a disappointing 1-4 at home last week, going 0-2 in a midweek doubleheader versus Embry-Riddle and then dropped a 2-1 series to Lee over the weekend.  The Blazer offense has been a bit up and down this season as the team started the year 7-11, before rattling off 11-straight victories.  During the winning streak, the Blazers hit .318 with 21 home runs, 74 runs scored and 92 hits, along with 28 extra-base hits.  The staff boasted a 2.58 ERA as the opposition hit just .235 against it with 35 runs scored, 69 hits six home runs and 11 extra-base hits.  
 
Since the streak, the offense has dipped a bit as the team has gone 6-8 overall and 4-5 in league play, while the Blazers have scored 53 runs with 80 hits, six doubles and 12 home runs as the team is hitting .233.  Conversely, the opposition is hitting .255 with 63 runs scored, 94 hits, 13 doubles, one triple and 11 home runs.  VSU has a 4.08 ERA over the last 14 games, while the opposition's has dipped to 2.82. 
 
For the season, the Blazers are hitting .282 with 209 runs scored, 315 hits, 38 doubles, four triples, 51 home runs and 195 RBI.  The team is slugging .460, while registering 144 walks with 38 hit batters and a .378 on base clip. VSU is 44 of 49 in stolen bases and has a .965 fielding percentage with 40 errors leading to 31 unearned runs.  
 
Individually, senior Aniston Gano leads the team with a .409 batting average on 52 of 127 from the dish. She has scored 22 runs with three doubles, a team-high 13 home runs and a team-best 39 RBI.  She is slugging .740 for the season and has 29 walks to lead the team, while being plunked by pitches three times for a .325 on base clip.  Junior Saylor McNearney leads the team with 38 runs scored, while she has 12 home runs this season.  McNearney is a team-best 22 of 23 in stolen bases and has walked 25 times and been hit twice for a .390 on base average.  Senior Carly Bogart is second in the team in average (.309) and hits (43), while she has nine home runs and scored 24 runs and driven in 27.  
 
In the circle, graduate student Claire Maulding leads the team with a 19-10 record overall and a 2.49 ERA.  She has played in 32 games with 26 starts and has 21 complete games along with six shutouts and three saves.  Maulding leads the team in innings pitched (174.0) and has allowed 144 hits, 74 runs – 62 earned, walked 45 and fanned 160 as teams are hitting .222 against her.  Seniors Madison Lumpp and Savannah Barfield, along with sophomore Toree Wofford each have seen action in the circle this year as well.  Lumpp is 3-2 in 55 innings with 18 appearances, along with eight starts and one complete game. 
 
Nationally speaking, the Blazers are 10^th nationally in home runs (51), while the team is 16^th in sacrifice bunts (42) for second in the league in 35^th in sacrifice flies (16) also good for second in the league.  VSU is second in in the league and 34^th nationally in walks with 144 free passes.  
 
Individually, Maulding is second nationally in complete games (21), while she is third in starts (26).  She and Halle Grace Patton of Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) lead the nation in innings pitched (174), while Maulding is tenth nationally in shutouts (6) for second in the league.  Maulding is tops in the league in strikeouts (160) for 14^th nationally and is seventh in victories (19) for tops in the league. Gano is 20^th nationally in home runs (13) for tops in the league while she leads the GSC in on base percentage (.525) for 35^th nationally and is second in the league in slugging percentage at a .740 clip.  McNearney is third in the GSC in runs scored (38). 
 
Christian Brothers enters the week with a 15-27 mark overall and a 6-21 record in GSC play.  The Lady Bucs have dropped four-straight and seven of nine, including being swept at home by Montevallo last weekend.  This series with CBU is the Lady Bucs' Senior Weekend.  CBU enters batting .243 for the season with 139 runs scored, 263 hits, 45 doubles, 11 triples, 11 home runs and 126 RBI.  The team is slugging .335 and reaching base at a .311 clip.  Haylee Alberson leads the team with a .277 average on 31 of 112 from the plate.  She has six doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI, while scoring 15 runs.  Riley Simpson leads the team with four home runs and is second in average at a .276 clip.  Simpson has a team-high 32 hits, 14 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples and the four round-trippers.  Simpson has driven in a team-high 25, while slugging a team-best .483 for the season. 
 
In the circle, CBU has a 5.26 ERA in 270.1 innings of work.  Gabby Dickerson is 8-12 on the year in a team-high 113 innings of work with 12 complete games.  She has allowed 104 hits, 59 runs – 44 earned, walked 45 and fanned 83 as teams are hitting .238 against her.  
 
Since Apr. 13, 2008, the Blazers own a 38-0 record all-time against Christian Brothers.  VSU is 14-0 in Memphis against CBU and has posted run-rule victories in five of the last six games overall and 10 of the last 15. 
 
Following the series, the Blazers return home for their Senior Weekend versus West Florida, Apr. 25-26 with a single game scheduled for Apr. 25 at 5 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Apr. 26 at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.