VALDOSTA, Ga. - Valdosta State claimed a 5-3 victory in the first game while Shorter rebounded for an 11-10 victory in the second game as the Blazers and Hawks split a Gulf South Conference baseball doubleheader at Ledbetter Field Saturday.

Shorter (3-3, 1-1) struck first in the first game as it plated a run in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI double by Zach Santos. However, Valdosta State (6-1, 1-1) responded with the next five runs of the game. Jayk Graham evened the game in the top of the second inning as he hit a sacrifice fly that plated Hayden Jones, who singled to open the frame, moved to second on a Kevin Cruz base hit and was sacrificed to third.

VSU added two more runs in the third as Zac Goodno opened the inning with a walk before Mike Reed reached on a one-out walk. A Michael Gouge double plated Goodno while Reed scored when Bryant Hayman grounded out to put the Blazers up 3-1.

Hayman and Gouge also collected RBIs in the fifth inning as Gouge singled home Dominique Smedley and scored when Hayman followed with a base hit. Meanwhile, the Hawks got their final two runs 

Mitchell Cody allowed six hits and two runs as he pitched into the ninth inning in improving his record to 2-0 on the season. He walked just one batter and struck out four in the game. Meanwhile, Hayden Jones gave up a run in recording the final three outs of the game to earn his first save.

The Blazers jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second game only to have Shorter fight back. Valdosta State scored five runs in the top of the first inning, despite having only one hit in the frame. Reed walked to open the inning and stole second and third before scoring on an error. Hayman and Jones reached on one-out walks before Bobby Rice drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Hayman proceeded to score on an error and Graham walked to reload the bases before Goodno doubled to bring home all three base runners to put VSU in front 5-0.

Hayman collected his second home run of the year in the second inning, but the Hawks responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame on four hits to pull to within 6-5. The Hawks added two more runs in the third inning only to have the Blazers respond with two of their own in the fourth.

Shorter added two runs in the fifth while VSU added one in the sixth. The Hawks regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning and each team scored a run in the seventh to close out the scoring.

Cameron Martin fell to 0-1 on the season as he allowed a run on two hits in 1.1 innings of work.

Goodno finished the day 3-for-7 with four RBI to lead Valdosta State offensively on the day while Gouge was also 3-for-7. Hayman had two hits in five at-bats and also drove in four runs on the day.

The two teams conclude the three-game series with a single game Sunday beginning at 2:00 p.m.