VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State baseball team suffered a tough non-conference loss on Tuesday, as the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes overcame a Blazer lead late in the game to claim a 5-4 win in Valdosta, Ga.
The Hurricanes opened up the scoring in the top half of the first inning after leadoff hitter Jason Baita reached on an infield error, and came around to score after a wild pitch and a Jared Jones single through the middle. Georgia Southwestern's lead didn't hold for long, however, thanks to a run scored by the speedy Kendall Herron from third on a pop-up to shallow right field off the bat of Aaron Haughton.
The 1-1 score held until the bottom of the fourth, when the Blazers used two hits and some aggressive base running to plate a pair of runs. Dalton Murray sparked the half inning with a high pop-up to the left of the pitchers mound. Murray sensed that the play might be a difficult one for the Hurricane infield, and his hustle play paid off when the ball landed untouched in the middle of all four infielders. The end result was a rare infield double for the Blazer right fielder, and VSU capitalized by bringing home two runs later in the inning, one of which scored on a clutch two-out single by freshman Carson McCullers.
Working with a 3-1 advantage, the Blazers remained in front until Danny Molinari drew a one-out walk to set the stage for GSW third baseman Bradley Hough, who slugged a seventh inning blast over the left field wall.
The home run knotted the game up at 3-3, but the Blazers reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the eighth with another clutch single by McCullers. Andrew Williamson, who reached on a strikeout wild pitch and advanced to second on a Blake Seeley sacrifice bunt earlier in the half inning, scored on the play to put VSU in front 4-3 heading into the final inning.
The Hurricanes refused to back down and ignited a rally of their own in the top of the final frame. Jonathan Martin started the surge with a leadoff double, which ended Tristan Cone's night on the hill and brought Ricky Miranda into the game. Miranda delivered what appeared to be a huge defensive play in the top of the ninth, when he fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt and cut down Martin at third base for the first out of the inning. Tyler Skelton followed with a single, however, and after both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, Hough struck again with a two run seeing-eye-single through the middle.
The Blazers were unable to overcome the 5-4 deficit in the bottom of the ninth, which dropped the team's overall record to 12-17 on the season. Georgia Southwestern improved to 5-22 on the year with the win.
Valdosta State will return to action on Friday with a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader against the visiting Lee Flames at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.
