CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Valdosta State dropped an 8-2 decision in the first game and rebounded for an 11-3 victory in game two as the Blazers split a Gulf South Conference baseball doubleheader at Olympic Field Saturday afternoon.
Lee (25-16-1, 14-13-1) never trailed in the first game as it jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Ben Holland walked to open the inning before Trenton Hill singled. Holland was erased at third base on a fielder's choice, but Nathan Wierzgac and Luke Toms each collected run scoring singles in the inning to put the Flames in front.
Valdosta State (25-15, 16-11) got a run back in the top of the third inning when
Michael Gouge singled home
B.J. Harmon, but LU responded with five runs in the sixth inning, including three on a home run by Toms. The Blazers added a run in the top of the seventh on
Ryan Smith's second home run of the year while Lee closed out the scoring with a run in the bottom of the eighth.
Mitchell Cody took the loss for Valdosta State and fell to 7-2 as he allowed five runs on eight hits while Lee's Dustin Lawson improved to 4-1 after limiting VSU to seven hits and two runs in a complete game.
Hayden Jones and
Jayk Graham had two hits each to lead VSU at the plate in the game.
The Blazers jumped out to a big lead in the second game as they scored the contest's first 10 runs. Six of the runs came in the fourth inning, the first of which came on
Kevin Cruz's ninth homer of the season. Graham followed the home run with a triple and scored on a
Zac Goodno bunt single before
Bobby Rice walked. Following a pitching change, Harmon walked to load the bases and Gouge collected a two-out single that plated Goodno and Rice. Jones proceeded to triple to drive home both Harmon and Gouge and put VSU in front 6-0.
Valdosta State added four more runs in the fifth inning as Harmon and Gouge each drove in two runs while Lee got all three of its runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on a Hill bases-loaded double.
Mike Reed drove home Smith in the top of the seventh for the game's final run.
Kyle Andre gave up five hits and three runs in 5.2 innings to improve to 5-4 on the season while LU's Hill allowed four runs on five hits in 3.1 innings to fall to 6-5.
Cruz went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the game to lead VSU offensively while Reed and Gouge had two hits each.
Valdosta State returns to action Wednesday, April 22 when it travels to Columbus, Ga. to take on Columbus State at 5:00 p.m.
