ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Valdosta State baseball team suffered an 8-3 loss at the hands of the No. 26 ranked Flagler Saints in midweek non-conference action on Tuesday in St. Augustine, Fla.
 
The Blazers struck first in the top half of the first inning after Kendall Herron led the game off with a frozen rope into the left field corner for a double. Freshman Carson McCullers followed with a productive out to the right side, and Luke Suchon delivered an RBI single through the left side to drive Herron in from third and put VSU on top 1-0.
 
The lead was quickly squandered in the bottom of the opening frame, as the Saints capitalized on two Blazer errors with four base hits for four first inning runs. Two innings later, Flagler rallied again with two hits and another VSU error, which afforded the Saints three insurance runs and a 7-1 advantage.
 
In the sixth, Suchon and Nick Koslowski produced a pair of singles to set the table for Andrew Williamson, who blistered a two-run double to right field wall to trim Flagler's lead to 7-1. The Saints answered again, however, with one additional run in the bottom of the same inning after an infield single and another costly error for Valdosta State.
 
The scoring ended there, and the Blazers saw their season record fall to 12-21. Meanwhile, the Saints improved to 26-10 on the year.
 
Hunter Jones was forced to take the loss for VSU and fell to 2-3 on the season, while Flagler's Jett Walsh picked up the win to improve to 6-1.
 
The Blazers will return to action in Valdosta, Ga. with a three-game series against the visiting Falcons of Montevallo. The Gulf South Conference showdown will open up on Saturday at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park with a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader. Look for live coverage of the event right here at www.vstateblazers.com.