Shane Thomas | The Valdosta Daily TimesValdosta State pitcher Kasie Johnson throws during the fourth inning of Game 1 against Georgia Southwestern Wednesday at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park.

VALDOSTA –– Improving at the plate and dominant in the circle, No. 5 Valdosta State softball ended their double dip with Georgia Southwestern early.

Giovanna Watts threw a no-hitter in Game 2 while Kiley Robb blasted a pair of three-run homers to seal a 10-0 shutout of the Hurricanes.

The Blazers scored 10 runs on just six hits, with Robb delivering six RBIs. Left fielder Jordenne Gaten led off the game by crushing a solo shot of her own in the first inning as the Blazers won their sixth straight ballgame.

“We’re still getting there,” Blazers coach Thomas Macera said of his team’s hot bats. “We always hit better later in the year than earlier in the year. But we’re ahead of last year right now. They’re doing better –– we’re taking better at-bats and it’s just a learning curve. I still feel like we’re ahead of last year and I think they’re playing well.”

Watts (2-1) was almost machine-like in her time in the circle on Wednesday, going all five innings with three strikeouts. Even when the Hurricanes got their bats on Watts’ offerings, either Watts or her teammates got to the ball in short order to record the out.

“She throws a really good drop ball and then she has a pretty good change-up that keeps them off balance,” Macera said of Watts. “She really hit her spots good tonight and that’s the key –– you’ve just got to hit spots and she didn’t really serve any up for the them. She made it really hard on them and she held them. They put some balls hard in play and every play we needed to make, we made tonight so the defense did a good job behind her.”

Following Gaten’s home run, an RBI double to center by shortstop Natalia Bellinger scored Haley Garrett to give the Blazers a 2-0 lead.

Robb’s first home run scored Garrett and Logan Hill to enlarge the VSU lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, Taylor Strickland advanced to third on a wild pitch by the Hurricanes’ Ansley Dean and Gaten scored to put VSU ahead 6-0.

Soon after, Garrett connected on an RBI single to make it 7-0 and set the stage for Robb’s game-ending blast for the final margin.

Garrett went 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored in Game 2 while Gaten scored two runs and went 1-for-3 at the plate.

GAME 1

The Blazers jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead, then poured it on late for a 9-1 win in the opener.

Taylor Strickland’s three-run RBI double to right center field clinched the game for the Blazers, who tallied 11 hits in Game 1.

Gaten scored on a wild pitch to put the Blazers ahead 5-0 before the Hurricanes found a nugget of momentum. After left fielder Kayla Kerr walked with the bases loaded, right fielder Chloe Zoeller crossed home plate to score and make it a 5-1 game in the top of the fifth.

The momentum was short-lived, however, as Watts –– who threw 13 pitches in 2/3 of an inning in relief –– struck out Aimee Oglesby swinging to get out of the inning.

From there, the Blazers once again did fatal damage to the Hurricanes to pick up a five-inning victory. Leading 5-1, the Blazers got a lift from Robb, who reached on a fielding error by the Hurricanes. The error allowed Garrett to score to put VSU in front by five runs. Soon thereafter, Strickland came to the plate to put the finishing touches on the Game 1 win as her RBI double allowed Gaten, Ashley Biddle and Bellinger to score for the 9-1 win.

Despite his team producing so many runs and hits on Wednesday, Macera was visibly frustrated at times with pop-ups and strikeouts during Game 1. However, with his team coming out on the winning end, Macera kept things in perspective.

“You can’t hit them all,” Macera said. “You’re gonna miss some balls. I’d rather box them up and try to drive the ball a little bit, but I mean, come on, hitting a round ball with a round bat is probably the hardest thing to do and you’re gonna miss some pitches. You can’t hold them accountable for every at-bat. I’d still rather them do that have two strikeouts looking in the second game which bothers me more than the pop-ups.

“The good thing was they kept trying to make adjustments and kept battling and we finally did get some timely hits when we needed them.”

Starting pitcher Kasie Johnson improved to 7-1 this season after a solid 4 1/3 innings. Johnson struck out five with five hits, two walks and one earned run in the win.

Gaten was 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and three runs scored in Game 1 while Strickland went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and a walk. Zoeller and Kayley Tierce each had two hits for the Hurricanes in the loss.

UP NEXT

The Blazers travel to Clinton, Miss. to face GSC foe Mississippi College in a three-game series on Saturday. The Blazers will have a doubleheader with the Choctaws Saturday before wrapping up the series Sunday.

On the heels of six straight wins, Macera talked about how non-conference wins can help his team as it returns to conference play this weekend.

“They help you a lot because all you’re trying to do is get better every game –– it doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Macera said of Wednesday’s blowouts against the Hurricanes. “Every game, you’re trying to get a little bit better and today, Giovanna made some advancements in her pitching and we definitely hit better today than we did against Union on Sunday and Monday.

“These are big games going to Mississippi College. So, the learning curve, you just try to keep it short and correct things as quickly as you can.”