VALDOSTA, Ga. – Down to their final out, the Valdosta State baseball team used some ninth inning fireworks to claim a 4-3 regional win over Flagler, after second baseman Chipper Andzel struck for a two-out, two-run, walk off double at Billy Grant Field on Wednesday.
 
"There's not a better feeling," said Andzel after the big midweek victory. "To see all your boys running out to congratulate you, the guys that you grind with day in and day out, was amazing. These guys are my family, and I think they were just as happy, if not more excited that I was."
 
Valdosta State (14-6) struck first in the bottom half of the second inning when Luke Suchon launched his first home run of the 2017 season over the wall in left center field to put the Blazers on top 1-0.
 
The Saints (14-6) used a double by Dylan Jones and a single by Igor Baez to knot the game up at 1-1 in the top half of the following inning, and Jason Moore teamed up with Sean Lawlor to duplicate the effort one inning later to give Flagler a 2-1 lead.
 
Valdosta State trailed for the next two innings, but Dalton Murray sparked the red and black in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff single. Sophomore Max Abramson followed with a single through the right side to place two aboard. The pair of singles set the table for Tyler Morris, who snuck a base hit back through the middle for game-tying RBI.
 
Facing Cooper Cain in the top of the eighth, Flagler threatened to take the lead after placing two aboard on back-to-back singles with one away. Lorenzo Butler moved a runner up with a fly out to right field before Tristan Cone came on to relieve Cain, and a wild pitch allowed the Saints to take a 3-2 lead prior to the half inning's conclusion.
 
The one-run deficit set the stage for the Blazer bats, as Morris walked to lead off the inning and Harlan Harris was hit by a pitch. The two runners were driven in by Andzel's late-inning heroics, which led to a victory for reliever Beau Blair, who retired the side in order in the top half of the ninth.
 
"It was important for us to get this win in the middle of the week, especially after not playing well in the middle of the week last week," said Head Coach Greg Guilliams. "I was proud that our guys didn't give up. It was going to take somebody coming up with a big hit to get the win for us tonight, and Chipper stepped up and did that."
 
Andzel joined Suchon, Murray, and Abramson, who each swung for two hits in the game and accounted for eight of VSU's ten hits. Meanwhile, the Blazer pitching staff, led by starter Daniel Williams, scattered 11 Flagler hits over the course of the nine-inning contest. Guilliams used five different pitchers in the game, and the contingent teamed up for 10 strikeouts without allowing a single walk.

The win lifted Guilliams to his 300th career victory at Valdosta State. Now in his ninth year, Guilliams' career win total as a collegiate head coach now stands at 961.
 
Valdosta State heads to Rome, Ga. on Saturday to begin a three-game Gulf South Conference set against the Shorter Hawks. The first pitch of Saturday's double header is slated for 1:00 p.m., with live coverage available right here at www.vstateblazers.com.