VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team continues its five-game home stand with a three-game series this weekend against Christian Brothers University. The Blazers and the Buccaneers are scheduled for a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.
VSU enters with a 21-17 record overall after posting an 11-6 win over Saint Leo on Tuesday and have won seven of its past eight games. The Blazers are 9-11 in Gulf South Conference play and currently sit ninth in the league standings, a half-game behind West Alabama.
Fans can access links to live audio of the games this weekend on vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page. There will be no video streaming of the series this weekend, but the games will have audio play-by-play coverage from Chris Caray and the games will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM on the radio.
Christian Brothers is 8-26 overall and 4-17 in Gulf South Conference play. The Bucs have lost eight-straight games and have won just one of the last 12. CBU is coming off an 18-2 loss to Division I Tennessee Martin earlier this week and was swept last weekend by Mississippi College at home, getting outscored 31-4 for the series. During the eight-game skid, CBU has been outscored 85-17.
The Bucs are hitting .242 for the season with 235 hits, 118 runs scored, 34 doubles, four triples, four home runs and 104 RBI. The team is slugging .297 and reaching base at a .328 clip. CBU has 67 errors for a .941 fielding percentage leading to 58 unearned runs. The staff has a 8.00 ERA in 253 innings, allowing 357 hits, 283 runs – 225 earned, walked 161 and fanned 201 as teams are hitting .332 against it.
Jared Cramer is the lone Buc hitting over .300 at a .306 average on a team-best 33 of 108 from the dish. He has four doubles, one triple, one home run and 14 RBI. He is slugging a team-best .389 and reaching base at a .358. clip. Jamie Soto is second in average at .284 as he has 31 hits, five doubles, and eight RBI. Soto leads the team with 16 walks. Keagan Voss is 10 of 11 in stolen bases to lead the team, while Garett Reason-Kerkhoff has a team-high six doubles and four different Bucs each have one home run.
On the mound, Ryan Taylor leads the team with 36.1 innings pitched as he has a team-high 30 strikeouts, while allowing 47 hits, 35 runs – 30 earned and has walked 19. He, along with Griffin Miller, each have two wins on the season to lead the team.
The Blazers enter hitting .301 for the season with 368 hits, 60 doubles, five triples, 11 home runs and 200 RBI. The team is slugging .385 and reaching base at a .399 clip with 155 walks and 55 hit batsmen. VSU is 70 of 95 in stolen bases, after going a season-high 9 of 10 in thefts on Tuesday versus Saint Leo. The Blazers have 52 errors for a .961 fielding percentage leading to 24 unearned runs. On the bump, VSU boasts a 3.88 ERA in 320.1 innings of work. The team has allowed 272 hits, 162 runs – 138 earned, walked 169 and fanned 372 as teams are hitting .226 against it.
Junior
Logan Stephens leads the team with a .382 average on 42 of 110 from the plate. He has six doubles, 23 runs scored, one triple and 21 RBI. Senior
Josh Broughton leads the team with 56 hits and is second in batting average at a .371 clip. Senior
DJ King is third in average at .333 with 50 hits, 32 runs scored, eight doubles, one home run and 27 RBI. Senior
Andrew Williamson leads the team with four home runs and is fourth in average at a .323 clip. Junior
Jowenrick Daantji is 17 of 22 in stolen bases to lead the team, while recording a team-high 29 RBI.
Junior
Tristan Cone is 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA in 14 appearances with nine starts and has one complete game, while combining on three shutouts. Cone has pitched a team-high 56 innings, allowing 47 hits, 17 runs – 15 earned, walked 18 and fanned 67. Teams are hitting .224 against him. Junior
Jonathan Gettys is 3-3 with a 3.78 ERA in ten starts and 50 innings. He has a team-high 75 strikeouts as teams are hitting .211 against him.
The Blazers are seventh nationally in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.64 for second in the league, while ranking sixth nationally and first in the GSC in sacrifice bunts (38). VSU is 14
thin strikeouts per nine innings for first in the conference at 10.5 per game, while ranking 10
thin shutouts (4), 27
thin stolen bases (70), 37
thin WHIP (1.38) and 29
thin ERA (3.85).
VSU senior
Mack Hathcock leads the GSC in walks with 31 for 18
thnationally, while ranking 22
ndin hit by pitch for second in the league (13). Stephens is 29
thnationally and first in the league in toughest to strikeout at 13.8, while ranking third in the league in batting average .382. Broughton is fifth in the league in doubles (12), 26
thnationally in hits for second in the conference (56) and 21
stin sacrifice flies (5) for third in the league. Daantji is third in the league in stolen bases (17) for 45
thnationally. Cone leads the GSC in ERA at 2.41, while ranking fifth in the league and 28
thnationally in strikeouts (67). Gettys is 11
thnationally in starts (10), 15
thin strikeouts (75) for second in the league and 17
thin strikeouts per nine innings (13.5).
Stephens enters the series with a team-best current 13-game hitting streak, while Daantji has hit in the last 11 games. Stephens also has reached base in 23-straight games to lead the team, marking the second longest streak of the season. The current 13-game hitting streak by Stephens is the longest for the Blazers this season.
Following the series, VSU concludes the home stand with Georgia Southwestern Tuesday, Apr. 16, at 6 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.
