PENSACOLA, Fla. —
The Valdosta State softball team’s offense continued to roll in the second day of the West Florida tournament in Pensacola, Fla., making short work of Young Harris, 11-1, 9-1, in two shortened games to improve to 4-0.
All-American Morgan Johnson scored the first run of the day on her way to three RBIs and three runs with a home run. After reaching on a hit by pitch, she stole second. Kiley Rusen knocked her in with a double to left field, then Rusen stole home. Shelby Altman followed with a home run.
Altman was an impressive 3 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs in the win.
The Blazers added to their lead with four more runs in the second. Ashley Steinhilber singled and Fran Johnson reached on a hit by pitch. Courtney Albritton drew a walk to load the bases, then Rusen picked up an RBI when she walked to bring home Steinhilber.
Karson King singled to bring Johnson and Albritton in, then Altman scored Rusen with a single up the middle. Before the Mountain Lions knew it, they were in a 7-0 hole.
Then the Blazers added three more runs in the third inning.
Steinhilber and Johnson hit consecutive singles, and Albritton reached on an error. Then Morgan Johnson knocked a two-run double to left center. Altman was hit by a pitch, bringing in Albritton.
Young Harris was able to score one run in the fourth. Altman drove in Rusen in the fifth to give VSU an 11-1 lead. The Mountain Lions could not score enough runs in the bottom of the fifth to prevent the game from ending due to the mercy rule.
Brianna Hancock earned the win. She pitched four innings and gave up three hits and one run, while striking out three. Hanna Lythberg finished the game in the final inning with two strikeouts.
The Mountain Lions scored a run in the first inning of the second game, but VSU answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Albritton led off with a single and Johnson reached on another hit by pitch. Rusen walked to load the bases, then Altman took one more hit by pitch to score Albritton. King walked, scoring another run. Altman scored next when Steinhilber reached on an error, then King scored on an Alli Coulter groundout.
In the second inning, Johnson blasted her third home run of the weekend to push the lead to 5-0. In the third inning, Sarah Vaughn hit a two-run double to help the Blazers put up three runs in the inning. VSU scored one more run in the fourth, then held Young Harris scoreless in the fifth to close out another run rule victory.
The Blazers will travel to Albany on Feb. 11 for a doubleheader against Albany State, which begins at 1 p.m.
Blazers Blog
Blazer softball team sweeps Young Harris
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Win or go home
The Valdosta State softball team faces Armstrong Atlantic University in an elimination game for the 2013 Division II Softball Championship Tournament today at noon.
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Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
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Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
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Sending the Blazers off
The Valdosta State softball team made the long journey to Salem, Va. Tuesday, leaving Valdosta at 10:30 a.m. with devoted fans cheering them out of the parking lot.
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VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
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Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Former Lady Blazer Ferguson hired to lead Vikettes
The sign above the door still has Shan Garner’s name on it. There is even a Shan Garner plaque sitting on one of the shelves in the corner of the gymnasium office.
That will soon change, though, as Lowndes has hired its newest girls’ basketball coach. -
VSU wins 7th GSC Men’s All-Sports Trophy
Look out Title Town, another trophy is coming to town.
Valdosta State’s athletic department was awarded a seventh Gulf South Conference Men’s All-Sports Trophy Tuesday, sharing the honor with West Florida.
The tie between VSU and West Florida marked the first time in the GSC’s 42-year history that a pair of schools shared the honor. Both schools finished the athletic season with 29.5 points, based on the conference’s point system that gauges athletic success. - More Blazers Blog Headlines
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