VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team battled back from an early deficit to overtake the No. 2 ranked Tampa Spartans, 7-6, after a bases-loaded walkoff single by Marcus Sigmon in the bottom of the ninth inning of the non-conference midweek matchup at Billy Grant Field in Valdosta, Ga.
 
Blazer baseball starter Troy Massaro gave up four earned runs in the first inning, but the junior weathered the early storm and went on to follow up with five scoreless innings of work. After the early offensive outburst by the Spartans, Massaro went on to strike out seven batters before giving way to Colby Wisdom in the seventh.
 
During Massaro's dominant stretch, the Blazers chipped away at Tampa's lead, beginning with a sacrifice fly by Tyler York in the first to drive in Chipper Andzel, who led off the inning with a walk before stealing second and advancing to third on a throwing error by Tampa catcher J.D. Osborne.
 
Trailing 4-1, the Blazers added another run in the bottom of the second, as Clint Carr delivered a two-out infield single and scored two batters later on a Ryan Slaughter double to left center field.
 
Tampa starter Kevin Martin held the Blazers scoreless in the third and fourth, but the Blazers flipped the script in inning number five, when Andzel and Dalton Duty led off the inning with back to back hits before York blasted a three-run shot over the wall and put VSU in front 5-4.
 
The Spartans evened the game up in the seventh when Osborne led off the inning with a walk, advanced on a passed ball, and scored two batters later on a two-out single to left center field by Cody deNoyelles.
 
The back and forth affair continued in the eighth inning when Jaykob Graham ripped a single to left with one away. Carr hit into what appeared to be an inning-ending grounder two batters later, but Laz Rivera committed a costly fielding error that allowed Graham to score and give the Blazers a 6-5 advantage.
 
The resilient Tampa squad fired back in the top of the ninth with an Osborne homer, which tied the game and set the stage for VSU's dramatic finish in the bottom of the ninth. Andzel, who finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, reached second on a one-out double, before back-to-back walks put Marcus Sigmon in position to strike with a flair to right for the walkoff winner.
 
With the clutch RBI, Sigmon improved his season total to 33, which places him second among all players in the Gulf South Conference. Sigmon's heroics resulted in just the fourth loss of the season for the Spartans and dropped Tampa to 21-4 overall. Meanwhile, the Blazers improved to 17-12.
 
Graham came on in relief in the ninth to pick up the victory and improve to 2-0 on the season, while Tampa's Christopher Williams was tagged with the loss and fell to 3-1.
 
Valdosta State returns to action at home on Friday with a doubleheader opener to a three game weekend series against the visiting Lee Flames. Friday's first pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m.