VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team returned to form on Wednesday evening with a 6-2 non-conference win over the Georgia Regents Jaguars at Billy Grant Field in Valdosta.
The Blazers allowed GRU to jump out in front quickly, but promptly reclaimed the lead and held on late to pick up their 14th win of the season and improve their overall record to 14-10. Meanwhile, the Jaguars fell to 8-13 on the season.
The Jaguars took an early 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning when
Kevin Cruz slipped in right field and was unable to make a play on looping liner that dropped in for a double. The base hit off the bat of GRU second baseman Nick Rau drove in Hunter Boose, who singled earlier in the frame and moved around to third base on a failed pickoff attempt. The unearned run accounted for the only run scored in the first and put the Jaguars on top 1-0.
After the opening inning, the Blazers took control of the contest, scoring one or more runs in each of the next three innings. The tying run came across in the bottom of the second on a clutch RBI single by
Zac Goodno, and
Bryant Hayman delivered another timely base hit one inning later to bring in
Michael Gouge from second base and give VSU a 2-1 advantage.
The Jaguars posed a threat in the fourth inning with two out and two aboard, but
Beau Blair gave way to
Jared Stanley, who gave up a walk to load the bases before striking out Boose to keep the lead intact.
The bottom half of the same inning proved to be a big one for the Blazers, as they sent seven men to the plate and scored two runs on four hits.
Jayk Graham and
Bobby Rice teamed up with back-to-back RBI base hits in the frame and boosted the Blazers' lead to 4-1 after four.
In the sixth inning, Georgia Regents used a Gage Patton double that stayed just inside the chalk down the left field line and brought home Dodson from first base. That was all for the Jaguars, though, as Goodno made a heads up play to cut down Patton as he tried to advance to third on the incoming throw to the plate.
Valdosta State plated a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning, thanks to
Mike Reed's first homer of the season to lead off the inning, followed by a wild pitch later in the frame that allowed Gouge to cross and give the Blazers a 6-2 lead.
Each of the first eight hitters in the Blazer lineup had at least one hit in the contest, while Gouge, Jones, Goodno, and Graham all posted multiple hits in the game.
Stanley, who took the mound in relief in the third, picked up the win to improve his season to 4-1. Blair served as the starter for VSU and put in 3.2 innings of work while allowing just three hits and one unearned run.
Kellan Bailey and
Austin Glorius dealt 1.2 and 1.1 innings late in the contest to round out the group effort, in which the Blazer pitching staff scattered 12 hits and struck out eight.
Valdosta State returns to Gulf South Conference play on Saturday with a road series against Christian Brothers. The weekend action starts with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. EST.
