Valdosta State’s Courtney Albritton hit three home runs last weekend to lead the top-ranked Blazers to four victories.

Valdosta State swept the GSC Softball Player of the Week awards for the second consecutive week. Speaking of consecutive weeks, this week marks senior pitcher Alanna Hadley’s fourth straight selection and fifth of the season. Freshman center fielder Courtney Albritton earns her second award of the season.

Albritton is making a strong case for GSC Freshman of the Year this season and her second GSC Player of the Week honor only helps. As the leadoff hitter for VSU, she set the tone for the Blazers in all six contests over the past week. She hit .500 for the week with five extra-base hits.

The freshman is shattering the idea that leadoff hitters can’t be power hitters as she leads Valdosta State in home runs with 12 on the season. She hit two home runs in the second game of a doubleheader against North Alabama, the last being a decisive 3-run shot in a 5-1 victory. Her third home run of the week came in game one against Alabama-Huntsville, a two-run blast that broke a 1-1 tie en route to a 5-1 victory. Then, in game two, she nearly sent another one over the fence, but the UAH outfielder was able to knock it down. The deciding two runs, however, scored on the play.

For the week, Albritton drove in a team high nine and scored a team high seven runs. She leads the GSC in runs scored with 51 and is second in the conference in batting average (.464), slugging percentage (.871), doubles (15) and home runs (12), while currently sitting third in RBI (45).

While Albritton has been a powerful offensive force for VSU during its historic 31-game winning streak, Hadley has been the pitcher holding opposing offenses in check. Speaking of streaks, Hadley has won 19 consecutive decisions as part of the team’s winning streak, and now earns her fourth GSC Pitcher of the Week award in a row.

Hadley picked up three complete-game victories and a save in four appearances on the week. She only gave up 12 hits and one run, allowing opponent to hit just .160 over 21 innings of work. In a sweep against Alabama-Huntsville, one of the top hitting teams in the country, Hadley allowed just one run on seven hits in eight innings, earning a win and a save.

For the season, Hadley is 19-1 with three saves, 103 strikeouts and a 0.58 earned run average in 132 innings pitched while allowing opponents to hit just .167 – all marks that lead the GSC.

Albritton and Hadley will lead Valdosta State on a road trip to face West Alabama and West Florida at 3 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively this weekend.