Valdosta State Sweeps Last Day

Carter perfect, Jackson knocks two homers

DECATUR, Ala. - Valdosta State swept the last day of the Gulf South Conference Crossover to end the weekend 6-1 and move to 32-5 on the season and 17-4 in the GSC. The Lady Blazers finished Southern Arkansas, 12-0, and put away Ouachita Baptist, 3-1.

Valdosta State pitchers have flirted with it all season, but Margaret Carter was the one to notch VSU's first perfect game of the year. She moved to 14-3 with the win against Southern Arkansas in game one. She struck out five in five innings of play and her defense did the rest. The Muleriders couldn't even get through the lineup twice in the game.

The Lady Blazers didn't waste time scoring either against Southern Arkansas. Marti Littlefield found her bat and knocked a two-run homer, her 12th of the season, for an early VSU lead.

Then, in the second inning, Alyssa Shirey notched a couple RBIs with a solid hit through the hole between third base and shortstop. The run Southern Arkansas walked in before that along with Shirey's two RBIs made it 5-0.

After a series of wild pitches and passed balls, Littlefield scored and Shirey came in on a single to left field from Ashley Steinhilber to push the lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the second.

In the third inning, aiming for a run ruled win, Melessa Jackson popped the second home run of the game, her third of the season, to make it 8-0 in favor of VSU. She wasn't finished there.

In the top of the fifth, Jackson did it again. After an April Hutchens walk, Jackson hit her fourth homer of the season to make it 10-0 and give VSU a little insurance headed to the bottom of the fifth.

Before Southern Arkansas could get out of the inning though, Shirey wanted in on the action. She hit her team leading 13th home run of the season to bring in Littlefield and push the lead to 12-0. With Carter's pitching, the Muleriders could not do anything in the seventh.

Jackson kept hitting well into the second game of the day against Ouachita Baptist. In the third inning she started a run for VSU with a single. Amber Shaw and Sarah Vaughn followed it with a single each. A batter later, Shirey hit a double to deep left center to clear the bases and claim a 3-0 lead. Ouachita Baptist could only score one run throughout the rest of the game to end it at 3-1.

Holly Satterfield moved to 18-2 on the season with five strikeouts and three walks. She gave up seven hits, but just one run in the game.

Valdosta State returns to action against Albany State at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the VSU Softball Complex.

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