MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The University of Montevallo softball team is back in action at home against the top team in the Gulf South Conference, Valdosta State on Friday, Mar. 29 and Saturday, Mar. 30.
 
Last Time Out
The Falcons are coming off being swept by Alabama-Huntsville last weekend. This is the first time being swept in a three-game series this season. UM was blanked in the first game by the Chargers 4-0. The Falcon offense came alive in the second game but UAH was relentless at the plate as they run-ruled the Falcons 14-6. In the final game, the Chargers won a pitchers dual by the score of 6-2.
 
How To Watch
Montevallo vs. Valdosta State / Mar. 29 at 3:00 PM CT
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Montevallo vs. Valdosta State / Mar. 29 at 5:00 PM CT
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Stats: Here
 
Montevallo vs. Valdosta State / Mar. 30 at 12:00 PM CT
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Stats: Here
 
About Montevallo
The softball team is currently on a seven-game losing skid as they fell to seventh in the conference over the weekend. With five losses on the road last week, UM is now 6-11 away from home. Montevallo will look for some home cooking as they are an impressive 9-1 inside the confines of Orr Park in Montevallo, Ala.
 
Hitting
At home, the Falcons are averaging eight runs a ballgame. In Huntsville, the team snapped their streak of scoring one run or less in game two where they scored six runs against the Chargers. UM will look to get the offense fired up as they are 15-5 when scoring five or more runs in games so far this season. With the midseason lull, Montevallo is batting under .300 as a team and they are hitting at a mark of .295.
 
Sydnee Reaves is leading the Falcons with a .394 average in 99 at bats. Reaves had two multi-hit games last week and she has 11 games this season where she has two or more hits. The sophomore from Ashland, Ala. is tied for fifth in the GSC with 12 homers and is tied for fifth with 40 RBI. With opposing pitching staffs not letting Reaves beat them, Bentlee Stiner has done a great job batting behind her in the order. Stiner has drove in 25 RBI on the season with a .444 on base percentage. She is one of six Falcons with 10 or more walks.
 
Freshman Kendall Channell had a hit in four out of the five games last week. Channell had two home runs including one against No. 1 North Georgia then a two-run blast to give the Falcons the lead in game two against UAH. Channell has 29 hits on the season and has an impressive 8:10 strikeout to walk ratio at the plate.
 
Pitching
Mya Young was great in the circle as she turned in two stellar outings. Against the number one team in the country, Young tossed 3.1 shutout innings with two strikeouts and only three hits and one walk. In relief in game one, Mya Young tied a season-high of five strikeouts against UAH. In the game, Young only allowed one earned run.
 
Taylor Lloyd was locked in a pitchers duel in game three against the Chargers with a 2-2 score going into the fifth. Lloyd struck out three batters and allowed two earned runs. She was resilient as she gave up eight hits in her complete game but she was able to get out of jams when she needed to, to give the Falcons a chance all game. Lloyd has struck out 81 batters this season and is closing in on 100 innings pitched this season with 94.1.
 
Scouting Valdosta State
The Blazers are at the top of the conference with an 11-4 record against the GSC and a 20-13 record overall. They are coming off splitting with No. 25 Nova Southeastern on Sunday, Mar. 24. They lost the first game 12-0 but bounced back to take game two 7-6. In their previous GSC series, they took two out of three games against Alabama-Huntsville.
 
Valdosta State is one of the most dangerous teams in the country as they can strike at any time. VSU blasted the most homers in the conference with 77 and they drive in the second-most RBI with 221. The Falcons pitching staff will have to be in it every pitch as the Blazers average two long balls a game. VSU also averages over seven runs a game.
 
Abby Sulte has hit the most home runs in the conference with 22 on the year while she also has the most RBI in the GSC with 49. Carly Bogart is batting .405 on the season with nine homers and 16 RBI. Aniston Gano and Morgan Hill deepen the Blazer batting order with 13 homers for Gano and 12 for Hill. As a team, they are batting .316 which is second in the GSC.
 
In the circle, Valdosta has four pitchers with over 36 innings pitched. They have a team ERA of 4.66 and a team WHIP of 1.65. Toree Wofford leads the Blazers with 67 innings pitched while Nadia Zenteno has the most strikeouts for VSU with 41.
 
The Falcons are 2-10 against Valdosta State in history and have dropped their last four games against the Blazers. While the Falcons have never beaten VSU in Valdosta, they are 2-4 at Orr Park.