This season, Coach Thomas Macera has said the team needs to play more games in order to get in more of a rhythm. Well, his team got just what the coach wanted as they went into a weekend full of games.

The Blazers responded well, posting a 5-2 record over the four-day Gulf South Conference Crossover.

The only two losses suffered by the Blazers were against Delta State and Arkansas Tech by a combined three runs. After the weekend, though, the Blazers now boast a 25-6 record and hold the No. 4 ranking in the country.

VSU hopes to build on this past weekend and learn from some of their mistakes.

“It was a long weekend for us,” Macera said.  “We played well enough to win seven games, but we gave up two games on unearned runs.  It’s just some mistakes we made that we can’t afford to make during games against good teams.”

This type of tournament will serve as preparation for the Gulf South Conference tournament, which is held at the end of the year.

“Well, we played seven games over a four day period and that’s what tournaments are,” Macera said.  “We’re playing back to back days and several games, you just have to be able to be resilient and not get tired or worn down.  I don’t think we played tired in any single game.”

Holly Satterfield put together a string of great pitching performances totaling three complete game wins, two of which were shutouts and a save.

Satterfield was only one part of the reason for success, as the Blazers got offensive production from nearly every spot in the lineup.

“I think it was a team effort,” Macera said.  “We played well on defense, pitched well. Top of the order did well hitting one day, then the middle of the order did well another day, then the bottom came through another day. I think the five wins were collective in terms of who performed well.”

After playing seven games in four days, one might think fatigue would become a factor; however, Macera doesn’t see that as a problem.

His team is ready for the six-game stretch this weekend against North Alabama, West Alabama, and Albany State.

“I think we’re good to go,” Macera said.  “We got six games coming up on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  I don’t think we’re tired.”