Stat Pack

GSC Championship Central

VALDOSTA, Ga. –The Valdosta State baseball team heads to the 2019 Gulf South Conference Championship at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.  The Blazers, who are the No. 6-seed in the tournament, face No. 3-seed Delta State Friday at 11 a.m. ET in the first game of the championship. 
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  Chris Caray will have the call of the championship on 92.1 WDDQ FM.  
 
The Blazers are coming off a 3-1 week to finish the regular season at 27-19 and 14-12 in Gulf South Conference play.  VSU won at Flagler last Tuesday and then took two-of-three from West Georgia on Senior Weekend. Junior Logan Stephens hit .667 on 10 of 15 with five runs scored, four doubles and five RBI, while slugging .933 and reaching base at a .667 clip.  Senior DJ King went 8 of 18 from the plate with five runs scored, three doubles, one triple and recorded 13 total bases.  He slugged .722 and reached base at a .474 clip.  As a team, the Blazers hit .366 with 49 hits, 36 runs scored, 12 doubles, four triples, one home run and 31 RBI.  VSU slugged .537 and reached base at a .456 clip with 14 walks and was hit by pitches 10 times.  The Blazers were 7 of 10 in stolen bases and had ten errors leading to six unearned runs.
 
On the bump, VSU had a 5.29 ERA in 34 innings, allowing 36 hits, 26 runs – 20 earned, walked 17 and fanned 23 as the opposition hit .273 against them. Senior Trevin Eubanks had two saves on the week, while junior Zach Blankenship went 2-0 in 7.1 innings, fanning nine with just one walk, while allowing 11 hits and six runs with five earned. 
 
Heading into the conference tournament, VSU will most likely need to win the league championship to earn a berth in the NCAA South Regional.  The Blazers have not been ranked in either of the first two region rankings this season with the third scheduled to be announced Wednesday afternoon.  
 
VSU is 33-33 all-time in the GSC Championship and is making its 20^thappearance.  The Blazers have competed in the semifinals 12 times with eight trips to the finals and four championships as the most recent came in 2013.  The 33 wins ranks third-most among any school in the GSC either current or former teams.  Delta State is 82-46 all-time and is making is 35^thtrip to the conference championship.  The Statesmen have 14 titles and have won two of the last three with titles in 2016 and 2017. 
 
The Blazers last played in the conference tournament in 2017, losing in the semifinals to Delta State, 19-17.  VSU 6-9 all-time against Delta State in the GSC Championship as the teams have met twice in the title game with VSU winning in 2013 and Delta State in 2004.  The Blazers had to beat DSU twice in the championship in 2013 en route to the title, both times by one run and the first in ten innings.  
 
Delta State enters the championship with a 34-11 record for the best overall record in the league this season.  The Statesmen went 20-9 in GSC play and have won 12 of their last 14 games, including nine of ten.  The Statesmen are No. 18 in the latest NCBWA Top 25 and are 13^thin the Collegiate Baseball Division II Poll.  
 
If the Blazers defeat DSU Friday, they would then play Saturday at approximately 2 p.m. ET time against the winner of the No. 2-seed Mississippi College vs. No. 7-seed West Georgia game.  If VSU loses to DSU, it would play in an elimination game Saturday morning at 11 a.m.  ET against the loser of the MC/UWG game.  
 
VSU had five players selected to the GSC All-Conference Teams, which were announced Tuesday.  King and senior Josh Broughton were first team selections, while juniors Jowenrick Daantji, Logan Stephens and Tristan Cone were second team honorees. The five honorees were the third-most among league members as Mississippi College had the most with seven, while West Florida had six.  VSU's two first team honorees marked the third-most in the league as West Florida had five selections to the first team and Delta State had three first team members. 
 
The Statesmen had second basemen Jake Barlow and starting pitchers Dalton Minton and Hunter Riggins earn first team honors. Barlow led the GSC in offensive production this season as he hit .339 with 12 doubles, five triples, none home runs and 46 RBI.  He started all 45 games with 57 hits and scored 37 runs.  He is first in the league in triples, fourth in slugging percentage (.631), eighth in hits (57), four in RBI (46) and fifth in home runs (9).  Minton is 9-2 with a 2.50 ERA and a save this season, appearing in 12 games with 11 starts in 68.1 innings.  He has fanned 56 with 27 walks as teams are hitting .225 against him.  Minton is second in the league in ERA and first in wins with nine.  Riggins is 8-3 with a 2.57 ERA in 12 starts for 77 innings.  He has allowed 39 runs with 23 earned on 74 hits. He leads the team in strikeouts with 66 and just 28 free passes.  He is fifth in the GSC in ERA, second in wins, eighth and eighth in strikeouts.  
 
As a team, DSU leads the nation in ERA at 2.61, while ranking second nationally in hits allowed per nine innings at just 7.13. The Statesmen are fifth in shutouts (6), while ranking sixth in WHIP at 1.23. DSU is second in the league in fielding percentage (.967) for 42^ndnationally, while ranking second in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.08.  Melvin Frazier leads the nation in hits allowed per nine innings at 3.95, while Seth Hougesen has a 2.14 ERA for 30^thnationally and tops in the league.  Derek Sargent leads the league and is ninth nationally in sacrifice flies (7), while Minton is fifth nationally in wins (9).  
 
This season, the Blazers are hitting .307 to lead the GSC and are 39^thnationally.  VSU is 454 of 1480 from the plate, scoring 295 runs with 81 doubles, 10 triples and 13 home runs, while driving in 258.  The team is slugging .401 and reaching base at a .405 clip with 186 walks and been hit 73 times by pitches.  VSU is 87 of 116 on the base paths and has a .957 fielding percentage with 71 errors leading to 37 unearned runs.  VSU is 16^thnationally in hit by pitches (73) for third in the league, while ranking seventh nationally in sacrifice bunts (47) for first in the league.  VSU leads the league in on base percentage at .405 for 37^thnationally.  The Blazers lead the league with 87 stolen bases for 32^ndnationally.   
 
On the mound, VSU has a 4.11 ERA in 387.1 innings, allowing 338 hits, 214 runs – 177 earned, walked 208 and fanned 429 as teams are hitting .231 against it.  The 4.11 ERA is 30^thnationally and third in the GSC, while VSU is second in the league and tenth nationally in hits allowed per nine innings at a 7.85 clip.  VSU is second in the league in shutouts (4) for 27^thnationally, while ranking third in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.06) and 15^thnationally in strikeouts per nine innings at 10.0 to lead the league. 
 
VSU senior Mack Hathcock leads the league in walks with 40 for 11^thnationally.  He is second in the league in 13^thnationally in hit by pitch (19) and is third in the league in on base percentage at a .491 clip for 61^stin the conference.  Stephens is second in the league in average at .393 for 65^thnationally, while ranking 40^thnationally and second in the league in toughest to strikeout at 12.7 at bats per strikeout.  Broughton is second in the conference in hits (66) for 62^ndnationally, while he is 22^ndnationally and second in the conference in sacrifice flies with six.  Daantji is third in the league in stolen bases with 19, while junior Mike Christopoulos is 26^thnationally in sacrifice bunts for second in the league (8). Eubanks leads the GSC in saves and is 27^thnationally with seven, while Cone is fifth in the league in strikeouts with 75 and is sixth in the conference in strikeouts per nine innings at a 10.02 clip.  He is sixth in the league in WHIP at 1.20.