DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team made a strong showing on opening day of the 2016 season with a doubleheader split against the No. 18 ranked North Georgia Nighthawks (3-4, 10-5) on Saturday afternoon at Bob Stein Stadium in Dahlonega, Ga.
The Nighthawks got right to it in game one and opened up the scoring with a solo shot off the bat of Nighthawk third baseman Devin Gearhart, but Blazer starter
Kyle Andre settled in for the next four-plus frames to hold UNG scoreless before giving way to
Troy Massaro after five full innings of work.
The Blazers used the opportunity to overtake the Nighthawks in the sixth when
Jaykob Graham drove in
Michael Gouge with an RBI single before scoring on a follow-up double into the left center gap by
Tyler York.
UNG retaliated in the seventh and capitalized on a miscue in right field that allowed an Erick Delgado single to roll to the wall. With Steven Tomlinson aboard, both he Delgado came all the way around to score on the play, which put North Georgia back on top, 3-2.
Preseason All-American selection Gouge, who finished the first game 1-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of runs scored, knotted the contest up at 3-3 in the eighth with his first home run of the season.
The Blazers nulled a leadoff double by Gearhart in the eighth with a pickoff by VSU reliever
Beau Blair, but a hit batsman (Sam Tidaback) and a single by Trevor Sams set the stage for the deciding run, as Tidaback advanced to third on a passed ball and came in to score on a wild pitch.
Blair suffered the loss in the contest to fall to 0-1 on the year, while UNG's Chris Cobb picked up the victory on just a single inning of work to open up his 2016 campaign at 1-0.
The Blazer bats came alive early in the day's second contest, starting with a two run shot by
Marcus Sigmon in the first, preceded by a York sacrifice fly that drove in leadoff hitter
Scott Mathews earlier in the inning.
North Georgia's Tidaback cut into the Blazers' lead in the bottom half of the first with a solo long ball, but
Ryan Smith padded VSU's lead in the third with the Blazers' second homer of the game, a two-run blast to center field.
The power surge continued in the fifth, thanks to a York solo shot to left that represented one of his three hits in the game. The insurance run proved to be a critical one, as the Nighthawks posted a five run fifth inning to cut the Blazers' advantage to a single run at 6-5.
Mitchell Cody, who allowed just one run prior to the fifth, was forced to hand the ball off to
Kellan Bailey, who took control the rest of the way and held UNG scoreless over the remaining four frames.
Smith, Graham, and
Clint Carr teamed up to drive in an additional four runs over the final three innings to supply Bailey with all the cushion he would need to pick up the win and improve to 1-0 on the young season.
York racked up five hits in six at-bats on the day with three RBI's, a double, and one run scored, while Graham and Smith also tallied three RBI's each over the course of the day. In addition, Mathews was productive in the leadoff spot with a 4-for-10 effort that included two runs scored and three stolen bases.
The Blazers, now 1-1, will host their home opener on Wednesday afternoon against Albany State, with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
