VALDOSTA, Ga. – The University of West Alabama softball team opened the Gulf South Conference slate with a series split at nationally-ranked Valdosta State on Saturday.  The Tigers erased a 2-0 deficit in the opening game to claim a 4-2 win over the No. 8 Lady Blazers.  VSU rebounded in the second game with a 5-3 win.

VSU (25-5, 3-1 GSC) jumped on the board with a run in its first at bat of the day.  Alyssa Shirley plated Marti Littlefield on a single up the middle.  The Lady Blazers extended its margin to two runs with a run in the third.  Kristie Cornell’s sacrifice drove in Melessa Jackson to give VSU a two-run lead.

The Tigers (25-3, 1-1 GSC) sliced into the deficit with a run in the fourth.  Jessica Powell crossed the plate on Kelli Hartley’s single to right field.  Powell reached base via an error by the VSU shortstop.  The big inning for UWA came in the sixth when the Red and White put three runs on the board to erase the VSU lead.  After one out in the frame and another VSU miscue off the bat of Laura Bagwell, Powell lifted her second home run of the season to give UWA the lead.  UWA added an insurance run in the inning after Hartley scored on Courtney Gordon’s single to left field.

Emily White bumped her season mark to 5-0 on the season in the circle.  The senior pitched a pair of innings and recorded a strike out.  Jessica Cervantes closed the deal with her seventh save of the year.

In the second contest, the Tigers played catch up after giving up three runs in the first inning.  UWA scratched the scoreboard with a solo home run by White in the second inning.  VSU added its third unearned run of the contest in the fourth to extend its lead to 4-1 after four complete frames. 

White’s bat continued to sizzle in the affair as the Ragland, Ala.-native cranked her second home run of the contest and eighth of the season in the top of the sixth.  She plated Gordon, who reached base with a fielder’s choice.  It marked the third time this season that White has posted a pair of home runs in a game.  She had a pair of home runs against Judson and Lambuth.  UWA had the game-tying run in scoring position in its final at bat after a double by Bagwell and a single by Jennifer Lillard, but VSU’s Brianna Collis finished the game with a Powell strike out.

UWA closes out the conference weekend in Pensacola, Fla., taking on No. 19 West Florida.  First pitch is set for 1 p.m. Live stats will be available at athletics.uwa.edu.