Valdosta State sweeps UWA softball in double header
Published 9:12 am Monday, March 17, 2014
Six Valdosta State batters posted multiple runs batted in to sweep West Alabama softball in a Gulf South Conference doubleheader at the UWA Softball Complex on Saturday. The Blazers won game one 9-6 and game two 10-1.
West Alabama fell to 15-15 overall and 5-9 in the GSC, while Valdosta State improved to 22-8 and 7-5.
Jordyn Whiddon gave the Tigers the first lead of the day with an RBI single in the bottom of the first of game one. The Blazers answered in the top of the fourth inning with home runs by Heather Robinson and Courtney Albritton to take a 4-1 lead.
After an RBI single by Randa Simpson in the fifth, UWA took a 6-5 lead in the sixth with an RBI single by Taylor Miller and a three run homer by Anna Shartzer.
VSU responded again in the seventh with four more runs on four hits and two Tiger errors.
Albritton ended with three RBI, while Robinson and Kelly Gordon each tallied two. Shartzer finished 2-for-3 at the plate for UWA with two runs.
Caitlyn Calhoun (5-1) picked up the win after entering in the fourth. She gave up four earned runs on three hits while striking out two batters. Taylor Tucker (1-3) entered in the seventh to take the loss.
In game two, VSU totaled nine runs through the third, fourth and fifth innings. Hannah Strickland brought in two runs on a single in the third, Chelsea Canara hit a grand slam in the fourth and Shelby Altman homered in the fifth to add three more runs. Altman led with three runs.
Lydia North scored the only Tiger run on a pass ball in the bottom of the second. Shartzer led at the plate 2-for-3.
Maci Fletcher (7-0) pitched through all five innings, giving up five hits to pick up the win. Sarah Ray-Averett (8-5) opened the first three innings to take the loss. She allowed three earned runs on five hits.