VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State Blazer baseball team fell victim to a strong pitching effort by starter Wilson Adams in game one of Saturday's doubleheader against the Chargers of Alabama-Huntsville, but the Blazers retaliated in game two with an offensive explosion that ultimately led to a Gulf South Conference split (1-3, 14-5) at Billy Grant Field.
With the split, VSU moved to 23-12 overall and 14-7 in GSC play, while the Chargers shifted to 25-14 on the year and 15-8 against conference opponents.
"I thought Adams threw an outstanding game for Huntsville today," said Head Coach
Greg Guilliams. "I was disappointed in our approach at the plate in the first game, but obviously, he had a lot to do with that.
Mitchell Cody pitched well enough for us to win, but when you face somebody else's ace, you have to do the little things to score. We just weren't able to do that."
Adams (7-2) got two runs to work with in the first two frames after Wright Hackett doubled in AJ Walden in the first and Ben Rhodes came around to score after opening up the second inning with a leadoff double. The pair of runs would be all Adams would need, as he used ten strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work and teamed up with reliever Taylor Clemens to leave ten baserunners stranded for Valdosta State throughout the course of the first game.
VSU's only run came in the eighth, when
Dalton Duty ripped a double down the right field line and came in to score on a
Tyler York single. The pair of hits represented two of just five for the Blazers against Adams and led to Clemons' relief appearance. After coming on in the eighth, Clemons did not allow another hit and recorded the save for his sixth of the season.
If game one was the Blazer offense's Mr. Hyde, then game two was their Dr. Jekyll. The Valdosta State offense turned into a collective monster in the back end of the twin bill, recording 14 runs on 17 hits. Eleven different batters tallied at least one hit in the contest and five of those produced multiple hits in the game.
Chipper Andzel sparked the outburst with three hits and two RBI's in the leadoff position, while Duty,
Marcus Sigmon,
Scott Mathews, and
Clint Carr all followed suit with two hits each.
Extra base hits also came in droves, as Andzel, Sigmon, Jayk Graham, Mathews, and
Ryan Slaughter all connected for extra base hits of the double variety. Duty added the crown jewel early and set the tone with a mammoth two-run blast in the first inning that carried well beyond the right field wall.
VSU scored in each inning except the fifth and posted their biggest frame in the sixth with five runs on six hits.
Kellan Bailey allowed four runs, three earned, in the first three frames, but
Roman Donofro picked up his teammate out of the bullpen with a 4.2 inning relief appearance, in which he held the Chargers to just two hits and no runs before giving way to
Sam McGovern after the sixth.
Donofro picked up the win with the outing and improved to 3-0 on the season, while Chris Kilpatrick took the loss after allowing six runs, five earned, in just 2.1 innings of work.
"I thought our guys bounced back and played well in the second ballgame," added Guilliams. "Bailey didn't have his best stuff today, but Donofro came in did everything we could ask of him and more. We also swung the bats very well, and tomorrow, we'll get a chance to take the series."
The finale of the three-game weekend set is slated for 1:00 p.m. tomorrow at Billy Grant Field, with a special senior recognition ceremony set to take place 15 minutes prior to first pitch.
