VALDOSTA, Ga. - The No. 4 seeded Valdosta State baseball team opened up the Gulf South Conference Tournament on Saturday morning in Cleveland, Miss. with a 9-5 loss to the No. 5 seeded Union Bulldogs at Ferriss Field.

The Bulldogs took an early lead against Hunter Jones in the top half of the first inning when Tyler Mauzy connected for his third homer of the season to give Union a 1-0 lead. One inning later, Union added to their advantage with an additional run in the top half of the second, before Valdosta State pulled back to within one with a Chipper Andzel sacrifice fly to score Kendall Herron in the bottom of the third.

Facing a one-run deficit, the Blazers let the game slip away in the top half of the fifth when the Bulldogs scored four runs on five hits, including a three-run homer by Hayden Lewis.

Valdosta State put up a four-spot of their own in the bottom of the seventh inning, thanks in large part to a big three-run blast off the bat of senior Clint Carr to cut Union's lead to 6-5. The resilient Bulldogs managed to plate three additional runs during the next two frames, however, which put the contest out of reach for the red and black.

Union starter JR Miller managed to improve to 9-1 on the season after scattering four VSU hits over 6.1 innings of work. Meanwhile, Jones suffered the loss for Valdosta State to fall to 6-5. The win improved Union to 33-18 on the season, while the Blazers fell to the same record of 33-18 after the loss.

Valdosta State now turns their attention to day two of the GSC Tournament, where the team will square off against the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers at 2:30 p.m. EST on Sunday at Ferris Field.