VALDOSTA — Valdosta State’s softball team advanced on the opening day of their NCAA South Regional, defeating Tampa 5-0 Friday evening at the VSU Softball Complex.
The Lady Blazers scored five unearned runs in the bottom of the second, and Holly Satterfield pitched a one-hit shutout for VSU, which won its school-record 55th game of the season.
Valdosta State (55-6) will face Nova Southeastern at 1:30 p.m. today in a winner’s bracket game. The winner will earn a spot in Sunday’s championship game.
“A first-game win is important,” Satterfield said. “Nobody wants to be in the loser’s bracket, because it’s hard to bounce back from that. It’s good that we won this game.”
Satterfield (21-2) was dominant Friday. The sophomore right-hander struck out seven batters on the day, and only allowed one hit.
“I’m so happy to throw a shutout in a game like this,” Satterfield said. “I was happy with the way I threw.”
Valdosta State gave Satterfield all the support she would need in the second inning. The Lady Blazers took advantage of four Tampa errors and scored five runs.
Alyssa Shirey led off the second inning with a single to left field. Stephanie Carlson laid down a bunt right in front of home plate, and reached first when Tampa catcher Becky Vyzas could not make a clean throw. Becca Aszman sacrificed the runners over to second and third. Brianna Collis reached on an error, loading the bases.
April Hutchens hit a fly ball that was dropped by Tampa right fielder Jessica Tejas. Amber Shaw, running for Shirey, scored on the play. Two batters later, Andi Braswell singled to left-center to score Carlson. Melessa Jackson followed with a single up the middle, and Collis and Hutchens raced home to score, giving the Lady Blazers a 4-0 lead.
The final run of the second inning came on another error. Marti Littlefield reached on first baseman Samantha Becker’s second error of the inning, and Braswell scored to make it 5-0.
“It’s always good to score runs early, and get the lead,” Satterfield said.
Satterfield shut Tampa down the rest of the way.
Tampa starter Deanna Henriott (18-10) allowed only five hits and no earned runs, striking out four, but was hurt by her team’s defensive miscues in the second. Becker had Tampa’s lone hit.
Braswell, Jackson, Shirey, Carlson and Hutchens had VSU’s five hits. Jackson had two RBIs.
In the tournament opener, Nova Southeastern, the sixth seed, upset Florida Southern, the third seed, 2-0 Friday afternoon.
The game was scoreless until the fifth. Nova’s Jessica Hernandez started the fifth inning with a double down the left field line. Brittney Lamb’s bunt turned into a double when the ball got past the drawn-in infield, and Hernandez scored.
In the sixth inning, Nova’s Noemi Luciani singled to left, stole a base and scored on April Donachie’s single to center, making it 2-0.
Florida Southern will play Tampa at 4 p.m. in an elimination game. The winner of that game will face the loser of the Valdosta State-Nova Southeastern game at 6:30 p.m. for a spot in the championship game.
Local Sports
Valdosta State softball wins South opener
- Local Sports
-
-
New York wins Super Bowl
Eli Manning and the Giants one-upped Tom Brady and the Patriots again, coming back with a last-minute touchdown to beat New England 21-17 Sunday night for New York’s fourth Super Bowl title.
- Super Bowl boosts Indy’s image
-
Blazer softball sweeps Nova Southeastern
On Super Bowl Sunday, Valdosta State showed why it has been one of the super teams in the south region for years now.
-
Blazers fall to Saints
Just 24 hours after earning an impressive opening day victory, the Valdosta State baseball team struggled to find a rhythm against North Georgia, as the Blazers fell to the Saints 8-3.
North Georgia pitcher Blake Hobby was a major factor for VSU’s struggles. The senior right-hander held the Blazers to just one run on four hits across his eight innings of work on the hill. -
Tift County wins region wrestling championship
Tift County won the Region 1-AAAAA traditional wrestling championship on Saturday at Lowndes High School.
Tift had three individual region champions, had wrestlers place in the top three in 13 of the 14 weight classes and qualified wrestlers for next weekend’s sectional tournament in all 14 weight classes. Tift earned 184 team points, two points more than second-place Lowndes. -
Wildcats beat Crisp in overtime
Valdosta’s boys basketball team dominated the overtime period, and defeated Crisp County 66-56 on Saturday night at the VHS gym.
The Wildcats outscored the Cougars 17-7 in overtime to pull away for the win.
“Another big win,” Valdosta head coach Antonio Haynes said. “I’m happy for the guys. They played hard. They deserved this win.” -
Hartry accomplishes career milestone as Lady Blazers win
Valdosta State bounced back with a vengeance against Christian Brothers, cruising to a 62-44 victory to move to 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the Gulf South Conference. Senior guard Sczeny Hartry joined Valdosta State's 1,000-point club in the win and finished the game with 13 points and 1,006 career points.
Bena Hanyard played a strong game off the bench, leading all scorers with 14 points and tallying five rebounds, four steals and three assists. -
Rough season continues for Blazer basketball
Scott Dennis scored 24 points to lead No. 10 Christian Brothers to a 62-50 victory over visiting Valdosta State in Gulf South Conference men's basketball action at Canale Arena Saturday evening.
With the victory, the Buccaneers improve to 17-3 on the season and 8-1 in GSC play while VSU falls to 9-11 and 2-7 in league action. -
Valdosta sweeps Lowndes
Two games, two wins for Valdosta’s basketball teams on Friday night.
Valdosta’s girls rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Lowndes 50-45. Then the Valdosta boys completed the sweep with a 60-48 win at the VHS gymnasium. -
Midseason form
For the first time under head coach Greg Guilliams, the Valdosta State baseball team claimed an opening day victory.
The Blazers used solid offense and precise defense to beat the Lindenwood (Mo.) Lions 6-2 at Billy Grant Field. - More Local Sports Headlines
-
