VALDOSTA, Ga. – Fresh off four-straight wins, the Valdosta State baseball team returns to Gulf South Conference play this weekend as it travels to Montevallo for a three-game series.  Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start, followed by a 2 p.m. ET single game Sunday.
 
The series will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM with Chris Caray having the call of the games. Links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more can be found at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  Check back with the site for complete stats and recaps of each game.
 
VSU is 18-16 overall and 7-10 in Gulf South Conference play.  The Blazers sit tenth in the league standings as West Alabama and Lee are tied for eighth at 7-9.  VSU doesn't play West Alabama this season and lost the season-series with Lee, 2-1. The Blazers have 12 conference games remaining to move into the top eight in the league standings and qualify for the GSC Championship, May 3-7 in Oxford, Ala., at Choccolocco Park.  
 
On Tuesday, VSU downed Augusta 11-4 in non-conference action as the strong hitting continued for the Blazers after sweeping a GSC series against Auburn Montgomery last weekend. Against AUM, VSU plated 39 runs and allowed just 13 in the series, while recording season-highs for runs (18) and hits (19).  The Blazers have scored double-digit runs in three of the last four games and five times overall during the season.  VSU began the season 8-1, but went just 6-15, prior to the current four game winning streak.
 
During the four-game winning streak, VSU has hit .477 on 62 of 130, scoring 50 runs with nine doubles, three home runs and 47 RBI.  The team is slugging .615 and reaching base at a .563 clip.  Senior Josh Broughton is hitting .714 during the span on 10 of 14, with seven runs scored, one home run and five RBI.  Reigning GSC Player of the Week and NCBWA South Region Player of the Week, senior Andrew Williamson, is hitting .692 on 9 of 13 with three runs scored, three doubles, one home run and eight RBI.  He is slugging 1.154 and reaching base at a .667 clip.  Of the 11 batters who have played in three or more games in the last four, ten are hitting over .300 during the span.  
 
The staff has a 3.94 ERA in the four games with one complete game in 32 innings, allowing 30 hits, 17 runs – 14 earned, walked 20 and fanned 30 as teams are hitting .246 against it. Junior Tristan Cone has 10 strikeouts in two appearances with a 1-0 record and a complete game.  He has pitched nine innings with a 2.00 ERA, allowing six hits, two earned runs and walked two. 
 
Montevallo enters with a 15-19 record overall and has a 12-9 mark in GSC play.  The Falcons have dropped six-straight games and are 3-7 in their last ten games.  UM sits fifth in the league standings heading into the weekend series.  
 
The Falcons are hitting .246 on the year in 34 games with 271 hits, 191 runs scored, 45 doubles, six triples, 35 home runs and 171 RBI.  The team is slugging .394 and reaching base at a .350 clip with 138 walks and 46 hit batsmen.  UM is 23 of 31 in stolen bases and has committed 58 errors (.953) leading to 37 unearned runs.  
 
From the dish, Khari Anderson leads the team with a .366 average in 27 starts.  He is 37 of 101 from the plate with a team-high 36 runs scored, six doubles, two triples, three home runs and 14 RBI.  Tyler Krabbe is second in average at a .336 clip on 46 of 137 to lead the team in hits.  Krabbe has a team-high 14 doubles, one triple and a team-best 11 home runs, while driving in 46 and scoring 29 runs.  Krabbe is slugging a team-high .693 and reaching base at a .390 clip.  No other every day starter for the Falcons is hitting over .300. 
 
On the bump, UM boasts a 5.60 ERA in 283 innings, allowing 332 hits, 213 runs – 176 earned, walked 132 and fanned 260 as teams are hitting .286 against it.  Chris Rudkin is 3-3 with a 3.45 ERA in nine starts and a team-high 60 innings.  He has allowed 63 hits, 29 runs – 23 earned, walked 18 and fanned 63 to lead the team. Justin Whitley is 3-2 in 15 appearances with four starts for second on the team in innings pitched with 32.2.  
 
Nationally speaking, UM leads the GSC in home runs and is 23^rdnationally with 35, while Krabbe ranks fifth nationally in doubles with 14 to lead the GSC and he is 12^thnationally in home runs with 11.  Krabbe also is sixth nationally in RBI with 46 and 56^thin slugging percentage (.693).  Rudkin is eighth nationally in starts for second in the league, while ranking 22^ndin strikeouts for second in the league (63).  Anderson is 12^thnationally in runs per game at 1.33 to lead the league, while ranking 47^thnationally in runs scored (36) for third in the conference.  
 
The Blazers lead the GSC in batting average at a .304 clip for 52^ndnationally, while ranking 15^thnationally in hit batsmen, getting plunked 51 times for second in the league.  VSU is 33^rdin hits for second in the conference (334), while ranking 15^thnationally in hits allowed per nine innings (7.84).  The Blazers are eighth in sacrifice bunts (31) to lead the league, while ranking second in the league in shutouts (2) for 47^thnationally. VSU is 34^thin stolen bases with 58 and is tenth in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.7 to lead the league.  
 
Individually, senior Mack Hathcock leads the conference in walks with 28 for 19^thnationally, while he is 28^thnationally in hit by pitch with 11 for second in the league.  Broughton leads the conference in hits with 51 for 16^thnationally, while senior DJ King is fifth in the league with 46 for 65^th nationally. Junior Logan Stephens is the toughest to strikeout in the GSC at 16.0 at bats per strikeout for 20^thnationally.  He has fanned just six times in 96 at bats this season.  Junior Jowenrick Daantji is third in the league in toughest to strikeout for 41^stnationally at 13.8.  He has fanned just nine times this season in 124 at bats.  Junior Jonathan Gettys is eighth nationally in starts with nine for second in the league, while ranking 22^ndnationally in strikeouts (63) for second in the league.  Cone ranks 26^thin strikeouts with 61, while junior Cooper Cain has 53 K's on the year.  Gettys is 18^thin strikeouts per nine innings for second in the league at a 13.39 clip and Cain is 37^that 12.44 for third in the conference.  
 
Heading into the series, Daantji has a seven-game hitting streak, while Broughton, King and Stephens each have a nine-game hitting streak on the line, matching their season-bests. Daantji had a 12-game streak for the longest of the season earlier in the year.  King has reached base in all 34 games this season as the only player to do so.  Stephens has reached safely in each of the last 19 games.  
 
Broughton has 17 multi-hit games this season, with 13 games of two hits, two games of three hits, and a season-high four hits twice.  King has 13 multi-hit games, while Daantji has 12 and Stephens has ten.  Daantji leads the team with nine multi-RBI games this year, while King, Williamson and Hathcock have scored four RBI one time each. 
 
 
This season, VSU has outscored the opposition in each inning, except for the ninth as the opponents lead 9-8 in the final regulation frame.  The closest margins are an 18-17 advantage in the eighth inning and a 16-14 lead in the second inning, while the largest margin is 30-19 in the first inning. The Blazers are 10-5 when scoring in the first inning and 5-5 when the opposition scores in the first frame.  
 
Williamson became the first Blazer to earn GSC Player of the Week honors and NCBWA Region Player of the Week honors this season.  VSU has had Cone, Gettys and Cain all earn league pitching honors this season, while Gettys and Cain were Region POWs this season with Cain earning NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 27.  
 
For the season, the Blazers are hitting .304 on 334 of 1100 with 208 runs scored, 55 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs and 183 RBI.  The team is slugging .390 and reaching base at a .403 clip with 142 walks and 51 hit batters.  VSU is 58 of 82 in stolen bases and has a .961 fielding percentage with 47 errors leading to 24 unearned runs.  Stephens leads the team with a .385 average on 37 of 96.  Broughton is 52 of 135 for a .385. clip also, while recording a team-high 11 doubles, two triples and has scored 31 runs to lead the team.  Daantji leads the team with 27 RBI, while going 13 of 18 in stolen bases. Hathcock is 13 of 16 in stolen bases.  
 
On the mound, VSU has a 4.13 ERA in 285.2 innings, allowing 249 hits, 155 runs – 131 earned, walked 155 and fanned 341 as teams are hitting .232 against it.  Cone is 3-0 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 appearances with eight starts, while Gettys is 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA in nine starts.  Cone leads the team in innings pitched at 48.2, while Gettys has 42.1 innings of work this season.  
 
Following the series, VSU returns home to host Saint Leo on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park in a rematch of a 6-5 loss earlier in the season in ten innings. The Blazers then will host Christian Brothers next weekend in a GSC series, Apr. 13-14, while then hosting Georgia Southwestern (Apr. 16) in another rematch of a 4-2 loss earlier this season.