VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State baseball team returned to Valdosta, Ga. on Wednesday for a midweek non-conference matchup, and an offensive surge by VSU in the fifth was negated by No. 21 ranked Flagler in the late innings. As a result, the Blazers fell 7-4 to the Saints.

Flagler, now 17-2 overall on the season and a perfect 9-0 against Peach Belt opponents on the year, scored runs in each of the last five innings of the game to recover from a big offensive fifth for Valdosta State. The Blazers racked up four singles in the half inning, including a two-run single. Those hits, with the help of a Flagler error, gave VSU the chance to plate four runs for a 4-1 lead.

A walk, three hits, and two wild pitches in the top half of the sixth allowed VSU's lead to slip away, and the Saints tagged one additional run in each of the final three innings to establish a cushion from which the Blazers were unable to recover.

Quinton Forrester suffered the loss for the Blazers after coming on in relief of Cooper Cain in the sixth, and the Blazers fell to 7-12 following the defeat.

Valdosta State's four singles in the fifth accounted for over half of the Blazers' six hits in the game, while the Saints swung for eight hits, six of which came from the six, seven, and eight hitters in Flagler's lineup.

The Blazers will aim to rebound this weekend against the visiting Chargers of Alabama-Huntsville. The three game Gulf South Conference series will open up on Saturday afternoon at Billy Grant Field, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The Blazers will compete in a Saturday doubleheader, before closing out the series on Sunday afternoon for a single 1:00 p.m. game.

Look for live coverage of the weekend action, as always, at www.vstateblazers.com.