VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 5 Valdosta State Lady Blazers completed the Gulf South Conference series sweep of West Alabama softball, defeating the Tigers 8-3 in Game 3 on Steel's Diamond at Blazer Park on Saturday.

VSU improves to 20-4 while retaining a perfect mark in league play at 9-0. The win also marks the third-straight GSC sweep for the Lady Blazers. The Tigers fall to 9-13, dropping to 4-5 among conference competition.

"It was a rough weekend, dropping all three games to Valdosta," UWA head coach Carie Dever-Boaz said. "In two of the three games, we were doing a lot of little things wrong, and that ended up putting us in a hole where we constantly had to battle back."

"The thing I really loved about the girls this weekend is that they never gave up and never quit on the game. Valdosta is a really good team. We still have a little way to go, but we're not that far out."

Valdosta State jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a pair on two-run singles from Hayley Cruthers and Taylor Hartenbach in the first and second innings, respectively. Tana McDaniel drove in two more runs on a double to left field in the third.

West Alabama cut the deficit in half in the top of the fourth, starting with a fielder's choice from Kierra Hague that allowed Audrey Diekmann, who reach with a lead-off double, to cross the plate.

Sara Beth King capped the Tigers' three-run frame, launching a two-run blast over left-center field to cut the VSU lead to 6-3.

However, the Lady Blazers answered with a two-run shot of their own as Brandy Morgan placed a two-run shot over center field, pushing the VSU lead back to 8-3.

"Trailing 8-3 going into the last inning and load the bases, we emptied the bench and they did a great job," Dever-Boaz said. "Briana Buie and Devan Hines came in and did exactly what I needed them to do."

With Buie and Hines each reaching on their lone at-bats and Allison Craft taking a pitch to the elbow, the bases were loaded with just one away.

However, an infield grounder allowed VSU to throw Chelsea Lobitos, who pinch ran for Buie, out at home on the force play, while a soft line drive to first base ended the UWA threat in the seventh.

Ashley Smart's two hits paced West Alabama on the day, while Diekmann, Hague and King each chipped in a hit apiece. Haley Fowler, Lacey Crandall, Canara, Hartenbach and Morgan each collected two hits. McDaniel, Cruthers and Tara McIntyre each posted a hit.

Kathryn Carter (9-0) earns her second win of the series, disallowing a hit until the fourth inning in her fifth complete game of the season. Andrea Edmonds, who eclipsed her 2016 strike-out total of 51 in the game, (6-9) takes the loss, allowing 14 hits despite striking out six batters.

"Now, it's back to practice and back to work," Dever-Boaz said. "We have AUM before we play CBU, and we need to get ourselves back to where we need to be so we can put ourselves in a position to get to the tournament."

The Tigers will return to Livingston, Alabama, for a midweek, non-conference double header against Auburn Montgomery on Thursday. First pitch at the UWA Softball Complex is set for 2 p.m.