VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State Blazers (35-16, 20-12 Gulf South Conference) blanked the North Alabama Lions (30-16, 20-12 GSC) 8-0 in five innings of Game 2 to earn a sweep on Saturday.

In the bottom of the fifth, Chelsea Canara singled off Lions reliever Katie Parr for her third hit of the game. A wild pitch moved Canara to second to make room for Hayley Cruthers, who drew a walk to put two on for the Blazers. Taylor Hartenbach followed suit to load the bases as Brandy Morgan came to the plate. A pitch in the dirt allowed Canara to score the winning run for the Blazers.

Hartenbach drew a walk in the bottom of the fourth. After Tana McDaniel struck out swinging, Hartenbach reached third on the wild pitch. Haley Garrett singled up the middle to bring Hartenbach around to score to swell the Blazers’ lead to 7-0. The hit by Garrett was the 10th hit of the game for the Blazers.

The Blazers loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning. Canara, who left the game for an inning after being hit on her left wrist by a pitch, returned to the game and not a moment too soon as the senior drilled a grand slam to deep right center field to put the Blazers on top 6-0. The blast was Canara’s 13th long ball of the season, which also moved her into third in the GSC in homers.

After hitting Canara earlier in the action, Lions Game 2 starter Hillary Carpenter hit Brandy Morgan soon after Canara’s grand slam. Morgan slammed her bat to the dirt after being plunked by Carpenter. Visibly frustrated with the second hit, a crying Carpenter gave the ball to coach Ashley Cozart before trudging to the dugout. Carpenter was replaced by senior reliever Raven Cole.

With her wrist heavily taped, Canara got a base hit off Cole to pick up her second hit of the game.

Following the game, Blazers coach Thomas Macera praised Canara’s toughness and resolve to return to the game and make an impact.

“(Chelsea’s) a four-year starter,” Macera said flatly. “She’s played every game but two. She’s missed one doubleheader in her whole career. She’s the backbone of this team. She hurt her hand and goes out there and hits a grand slam with a bad arm. She didn’t shy away from being pitched inside after getting hit…she came out here and proved why she’s a four-year starter here.”

Canara, who was admittedly still sore after the game, was not a fan of sitting in the dugout after taking the hit on the wrist. According to Canara, that sour taste was something that spurred her to return to the game and make a difference.

“Obviously, I’m still in a little bit of pain,” Canara said. “It’s all right –– it’s kind of what we sign up for, you get hit by stuff, it happens but you have to be able to push through it. With this being my last year, I was in the dugout for that one inning and it was the worst thing ever. It was so weird being over there on that side of it and not being able to be out there. 

“I think it really helped when they called my name out and hearing how loud everyone was cheering when I went back up to bat –– it really was motivating. I was just up there trying to see the ball and hit the ball because I knew the amount of pain I was in but I was trying not to think about it. Getting that (home run) boosted my confidence for the rest of the game because I was a little nervous about going out there with it hurting so bad. After that hit, I knew it was going to be good.”

Blazers Game 2 starter Kasie Johnson had a no-hitter going into the fourth. Lions third baseman Hannah Shollenberger laid down a bunt that landed directly on the first base line roughly seven feet from home plate. Macera came out to dispute the bunt but it brushed just enough chalk into the clay to be ruled fair, resulting in a single for Shollenberger and the end of Johnson’s no-hitter.

McDaniel’s base hit coupled with an error by the Lions allowed the Blazers to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Johnson (6-4) was stellar in Game 2 despite having her no-hitter broken up. The sophomore dazzled on the mound, striking out six and walking none in the game.

Carpenter (14-7) was given the loss after pitching just 1 1/3 innings. Carpenter gave up six of the Blazers’ eight runs, walked two batters in the game.

VSU  4

UNA 3

Morgan’s two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the Blazers past the Lions 4-3 in Game 1.

The Lions looked well on their way to their eighth straight win when short stop Reagan Tittle crushed a solo homer in the top of the eighth to put the Lions ahead 3-2.

With the game on the line, Cruthers lined out to put the Lions two outs away from victory. Hartenbach walked to bring Morgan to the plate. Morgan, who ranks second on the team in home runs with 11, took Lions starter Hannah Bodenhorn out of the park to pull the Blazers feet from the fire. The win ended the Blazers’ three-game losing streak and snapped the Lions’ seven-game winning streak.

“We gave up the lead, we’ve done that a lot this year,” Macera said. “The biggest thing about it is they don’t stop playing. They play hard, they always have so it is what it is…(Brandy) did her job.”

Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh, Lions second baseman McKenna Ray doubled to right center. Center fielder Bailey Nelson reached on an error by Canara at third base. The error allowed Ray to score to tie the game at 2. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Blazers went ahead 2-1 when Lions left fielder Amy Carden botched a throw to home plate after Cruthers fouled out, allowing Jessica Mohl to score on the play. Carden tied the game 1-1 earlier in the inning when she scored on a fielding error by Blazers second baseman McDaniel.

The Blazers got on the board early as Canara belted her 12th home run of the season to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

On the next at-bat, Cruthers smoked a base hit past the Lions between first and second. Hartenbach drew a walk from Lions starter Bodenhorn to put two runners on base. Unfortunately, the Blazers were unable to take advantage of their quick spurt as Brandy Morgan struck out and McDaniel flew out to end the first.

Kathryn Carter (16-3) pitched a complete game for the Blazers. The freshman from Hinesville had two strikeouts with no walks as she gave up eight hits and one earned run in the contest.

Bodenhorn (6-2) picked up the loss for the Lions as she pitched 7 1/3 innings and recorded six strikeouts. Bodenhorn also walked seven, gave up five hits and three earned runs.

The Blazers wrap up the weekend series with the Lions today at 1 p.m. It will be the Blazers’ final regular-season game before the start of the GSC tournament.

“We just need to keep playing good,” Macera said. “If we get hot at the end, that’s the most important time so we want to carry today into the next day and the next day. We’ve just got to keep trying to play our best game –– I don’t think we’ve played our best game all year. I think we’ve had some flashes of doing this and doing that but we haven’t really come together as a total team…hitting, defense and pitching. If we just put some games together –– the second game, we did everything well so we’ve just got to get more consistent.”