MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Valdosta State baseball team posted four runs in the third inning and it was all it needed in a 4-3 win over Wingate Thursday evening at Florida Tech.  VSU junior Mike Christopoulos went 4 for 4 for the game and senior Trevin Eubanks picked up his second save of the week in the victory as VSU started the season 5-0.  Wingate fell to 4-1 on the year.
 
Neither team scored in the first two innings, but VSU junior starter Tristan Cone worked out of a first inning jam, leaving two on, while Wingate got out of the second as two Blazers were left stranded.
 
In the third, Justin Guy hit a single and advanced to third on a pair of balks by Cone.  McCann Mellett drove him home for a 1-0 lead and, on a steal to second by Tanner Forry, Mellett scored for a 2-0 lead.
 
The lead was short lived, however, as the Blazers plated four runs in the third.  Junior Jowenrick Daantji hit an infield single and an error by Wingate scored senior Josh Broughton.  Senior DJ King doubled to right plating the second run, while senior Aaron Haughton singled home a run and an infield single from Christopoulos plated the fourth run for a 4-2 lead.
 
Cone went four innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, walked two and fanned nine as he didn't factor into the decision in his first start of the season. 
 
In the seventh, Wingate used a double with two out for his fourth hit of the game and moved to third on a balk off junior reliever Sean Gabel.  Mellett scored on a Forry single for a 4-3 score.  In the bottom of the frame, Wingate reliever Mac Callari set down the Blazers in order for the second-straight inning and fanned six of the seven batter he faced since entering for the final out of the fifth.
 
Christopoulos notched his fourth hit of the game to begin the bottom of the eighth for the Blazers and moved to second on a ground out as Wingate made a move to the bullpen.  He was thrown out at third for the second out of the inning.  VSU got a two out walk and a stolen base, but was unable to add an insurance run.
 
Eubanks retired the side in order in the ninth for his second save of the season. 
 
Gabel moved to 1-0 on the season, while Riley Isenhour took the loss for the Bulldogs.  Gable went four innings, allowing three hits, one earned run, walked none and fanned five as VSU fanned 15 Bulldogs in the game.  Isenhour fell to 1-1 on the year, going 4.2 innings, allowing 11 hits, four runs – two earned, walked none and fanned four.  Wingate had ten strikeouts in the game.
 
Offensively, VSU tallied four runs on 12 hits with one error, while Wingate had three runs on nine hits and one error.  Christopoulos was 4 for 4 for the Blazers, while senior Andrew Williamson was 2 for 4.  Mellett was 4 for 4 with two runs scored a RBI and a double for the Bulldogs and Forry was 2 for 4 with a RBI.
 
The teams will meet again tomorrow at 2 p.m. as VSU will face Florida Tech at 10 a.m.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for a complete recap and stats of the games tomorrow.  Links to live stats and streaming of the games are on the baseball schedule page at vstateblazers.com.