PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Valdosta State baseball team suffered a lopsided loss on Saturday before bouncing back quickly to shut down the West Florida Argonauts in a Saturday Gulf South Conference split (0-8, 3-0) at Jim Spooner Field in Pensacola, Fla.

The Argonauts used 11 hits, combined with three Blazer errors, to plate at least one run in six of eight innings. As a result, Troy Massaro suffered his first loss of the season and fell to 1-1 on the year.

In contrast, UWF starter Walker O'Connor held the Blazers to just five hits and struck out seven over the course of seven innings to remain undefeated and improve to 3-0 on the young season.

In game two, the Blazers flipped the script in a shutout victory that was highlighted by the performance of Kellan Bailey, who dealt seven scoreless innings of work. Bailey improved his record to 3-1 after striking out seven and walking none. The performance represented Bailey's second shutout of the season.

Bailey's offensive support came in the form of three runs, two of which were earned runs scored against UWF pitcher JT Granat. Ryan Smith delivered the big blow of the contest, a solo shot in the fifth inning which represented his third of the season and the ninth of his career. In addition, Dalton Duty drove home Marcus Sigmon with an RBI single in the fourth and scored himself in the sixth after leading off the inning with a single, moving up on a Tyler York sacrifice bunt, advancing to third on a wild pitch, and scoring on a passed ball.

The Blazers record moved to 11-4 on the year and 4-1 in GSC play following the split, while the Argonauts shifted to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in league action.

The weekend series concludes on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST.