VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team looks for a home stand sweep as it hosts Georgia Southwestern Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park. The Blazers are 24-17 overall this season and enter the game winners of five-straight.
Fans can access links to live stats, video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page. Check back with the site for a complete recap and stats following the game.
VSU went 4-0 this past week at home with an 11-6 win over Saint Leo and then swept Christian Brothers, outscoring the Buccaneers 29-14 for the series. For the week, VSU hit .362 on 46 of 127 with 40 runs scored, 10 doubles, one triple, two home runs and 34 RBI. The team slugged .504 and reached base at a .468 clip with 18 walks and was hit ten times. VSU went 16 of 18 in stolen bases and had nine errors leading to four unearned runs.
Three Blazers who played in three or more games for the week hit over .500 as junior
Jowenrick Daantji hit .583, going 7 of 12 from the dish with seven runs scored, four doubles, one triple and seven RBI. He slugged 1.03 with three walks and went 5 of 6 in stolen bases. Senior
Aaron Haughton hit .545 in three starts with six hits, four runs scored and three RBI, while senior
Josh Broughton went 9 of 17 from the plate (.529) with six runs scored, one double, one home run and 12 RBI. He was 3 of 4 in stolen bases and pitched one inning in a 10-9 win over CBU on Saturday night for his first win at VSU on the bump.
On the mound, junior
Zach Blankenship posted a win in the finale against CBU on Sunday as he fanned nine through six innings, allowing two hits, one unearned run, walked two and fanned nine as CBU hit .100 against him in an 11-1 win. Senior
Call Graham picked up two wins in two innings of work with two strikeouts and three hits allowed. VSU had a 4.36 ERA in 33 innings, allowing 33 hits, 20 runs – 16 earned, walked 19 and fanned 34 as the opposition hit .254 against it.
Georgia Southwestern enters with a 16-27 record overall and a 10-14 mark in the Peach Belt Conference. The Canes are 4-4 in the month of April after going 5-15 in March. GSW won 4-2 over VSU in Americus in the final game of February.
The Canes have won two of three against Lander and Columbus State this month and are led by Hunter Foster who leads the team hitting .317 for the year on a team-best 53 of 167. He has scored 31 runs to lead the team, with eight doubles, three triples and a team-high four home runs, while driving in a team-best 33. He is slugging .473 and reaching base at a .400 clip with 19 walks, while going 5 of 6 in stolen bases. Andy Moore is second in average at a .309 clip with 30 hits, five doubles, one home run and 16 RBI in 40 games. Jonathan Martin (.302) is second in hits with 51 and leads the team in runs scored with 34. He has a team-high 11 doubles with one triple and two home runs.
As a team, the Canes are hitting .260 with 401 hits, 231 runs scored, 62 doubles, 13 triples, 18 home runs and 201 RBI. The team is slugging .353 and reaching base at a .350 clip. The opposition is hitting .286 with 330 runs scored, 442 hits, 85 doubles, 11 triples and 32 home runs, while driving in 291 runs.
On the mound, GSW has a 6.61 ERA in 379.2 innings of work, allowing 442 hits, 330 runs – 279 earned, walked 199 and fanned 308. Tucker Smith leads the team with a 7-2 record in 14 starts and 92 innings. He has 75 strikeouts, allowing 74 hits, 29 runs – 23 earned and walked 14 for a 2.35 ERA. No other GSW player has more than two wins nor has pitched over 38 innings as AJ Hayes is second in innings pitched at 38, allowing 47 hits, 27 runs – 21 earned, walked 12 and fanned 27. He is 2-2 with two saves in 21 appearances with one start.
GSW won 4-2 in come-from-behind fashion earlier in the year as VSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but surrendered four runs in the final three innings for the loss. Junior
Logan Stephens went 3 for 4 and one RBI to lead the Blazers. Blankenship went 6.2 innings, allowing four hits, one earned run with one walk and four strikeouts. Graham took the loss in 0.1 innings, allowing one earned run and walked one as VSU needed three pitchers to get out of the eighth inning, where GSW scored three runs to take the 4-2 lead.
Heading into the week, VSU really helped itself in the league standings with the sweep of Christian Brothers. The Blazers moved into a tie for sixth in the standings at 12-11 in league play with West Georgia. Montevallo is fifth at 13-11, while Alabama Huntsville is fourth at 14-9. With six conference games to go, VSU has a great chance to enhance its standing in the upcoming GSC Championship. VSU plays this weekend at Shorter and then hosts West Georgia to conclude the regular season Apr. 27-28.
The Blazers are led this season by Broughton who is leading the team with a .384 average on 63 of 164. He has a team-high 13 doubles, two triples, three home runs and a team-high 36 RBI. Broughton is slugging .543 with 18 walks, been hit three times and has a .442 on base percentage. He has a team-high five sacrifice flies and is 9 of 12 in stolen bases. Stephens is second in average at a .372 clip on 45 of 121. He has scored 25 runs with seven doubles, one triple and 22 RBI. Daantji is third in average at .329 with 48 hits, 10 doubles, 28 runs scored, three triples and one home run, while driving in 35. Daantji is 18 of 24 in stolen bases this season. Senior
Andrew Williamson leads the team with four home runs.
As a team, VSU is hitting .304 with 400 hits, 257 runs, 68 doubles, six triples, 12 home runs and 225 RBI. The team is slugging .392 and reaching base at a .403 clip with 169 walks and been hit 63 times. Th Blazers are 77 of 103 in stolen bases and have a .960 fielding percentage with 58 errors leading to 28 unearned runs.
On the mound, VSU has a 3.87 ERA in 344.1 innings of work, allowing 293 hits, 176 runs – 148 earned, walked 185 and fanned 398 as teams are hitting .227 against it. Junior
Tristan Cone is 4-0 with a 2.73 ERA in 16 appearances with ten starts. He has combined on three shutouts in 59.1 innings of work to lead the team. Cone has allowed 53 hits, 20 runs – 18 earned, walked 18 and fanned 70 as teams are hitting .236 against him. Blankenship is 4-2 in 14 appearances with eight starts and has a 3.76 ERA. He has pitched 52.2 innings, allowed 40 hits, 25 runs – 22 earned, walked 21 and fanned 55 as teams are hitting .205 against him. Junior
Jonathan Gettys is 3-3 in 11 starts and leads the team with 77 strikeouts.
Following Tuesday's game, VSU travels to Shorter for a single game Friday at 2 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 12 p.m.
