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VALDOSTA, Ga. – Looking to earn its third berth to the NCAA Division II Softball National Championships in the past six seasons, the University of Alabama in Huntsville softball team is set to take on host Valdosta State at the South Super Regional this Friday and Saturday. The best-of-three series will start with a 5 p.m. CDT contest on Friday, and the second game is slated for noon CDT on Saturday.
If necessary, the third game would start Saturday at approximately 2:30 p.m. CDT.
The Chargers (42-15) entered the national tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South Region, while VSU (44-10) captured the No. 1 seed after knocking off UAH by a run in the Gulf South Conference Softball Championships two weekends ago. Both teams advanced unscathed through the South 1 and 2 Regionals last week.
The squads have met four times this season – twice in Huntsville and a pair of games at the GSC tournament – but this will be the first time the two teams have played in Valdosta this season. The last time UAH played VSU at Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park, the Blazers won 9-4 in last season's South 1 Regional.
The season series right now is even at 2-2.
In the four games against the Blazers in 2013,
Mary Kelley paces the Chargers with an average of .455 (5-for-11), and three of her hits have been for extra bases – two doubles and a homer.
Kathryn Whitlock leads the team with four RBI in the contests.
Whitney Gilbert has been terrific for UAH in the circle against this weekend's opponent, holding a 2-0 record in three starts while registering a 0.88 ERA as the senior has scattered 15 hits across 16.0 innings pitched.
The pitcher has been especially impressive during her final postseason run, lowering her season ERA nearly 50 points from a 2.57 entering the conference tournament to her current 2.08. In seven appearances during that run, Gilbert has struck out 16, allowed just 22 hits, and surrendered only four earned runs while posting a perfect 5-0 record.
Gilbert and the rest of the UAH pitching staff have been steady against the Blazers, holding them to a .289 average in the four contests which is below the team's season mark of .339. GSC Player of the Year Courtney Albritton has scored three times while collecting six hits against the Chargers, and Kiley Rusen paces the Lady Blazers with three RBI and a .462 showing at the plate.
In the circle, Brianna Hancock has picked up the two VSU wins as she has struck out 11 UAH hitters.
Live stats and video for the contests will be available at vstateblazers.com.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Chargers on Facebook (facebook.com/uahchargers) and on Twitter (@uahchargers), and supporters of the Blue and White may sign up for text and e-mail updates at uahchargers.com.
