OXFORD, Ala. – No. 6-seed Valdosta State dropped a 10-0 decision to No. 3-seed Delta State in the first game of the 2019 Gulf South Conference Championship at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.
Delta State scored runs in five of the final six innings as it handed VSU a run-rule loss in eight innings. The Blazers now will play in an elimination game Saturday at 11 a.m. ET against the loser of Friday's second game between No. 2-seed Mississippi College and No. 7-seed West Georgia. Chris Caray will have the call of the game on 92.1 WDDQ FM. Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.
VSU (27-20) had no runs on six hits with no errors, while DSU (35-11) tallied 10 runs on 18 hits with no errors. It was the second time this season the Blazers had been shutout and tied the largest margin of defeat for the Blazers this season.
Senior
DJ King went 2 for 3 for the Blazers, while four other players each had one hit. Junior
Tristan Cone (4-1) took the loss as he went five innings, allowing 13 hits, six earned runs, walked one and fanned three.
In an eventful first inning, a single from VSU senior
Mack Hathcock began the game and then, following two outs, senior
DJ King singled to right field and Hathcock was gunned down at the plate ending the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Darek Sargent tripled to left center, but VSU junior starter
Tristan Cone came back with the second out. A walk followed and Cone got out of the jam with a ground out to shortstop to end the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the third, Sargent came up with a double to left field for his second hit of the game as the Statesmen had runners on in each of the first three innings. Cone got the second out, but CJ Estave singled to center field, plating Sargent for a 1-0 lead. Matthew Majeur singled to center for two on with two away.
VSU put two on base in the top of the fourth with two out on singles from King and junior
Logan Stephens, but was unable to score.
The Statesmen got the offense going in the bottom of the fourth with three runs, highlighted by a two RBI single from Estave and a fielder's choice RBI. In the fifth, Sargent tallied a RBI single for his third hit of the game as DSU led 6-0 through five frames. Hayden White singled home two runs in the sixth for an 8-0 score. DSU added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth for the run-rule win.
DSU was led by Sargent, who went 4 for 5 and was short a home run for the cycle. He had one RBI and one run scored. Estave went 3 for 4 with three RBI. Hunter Riggens (9-3) went seven innings, allowing six hits of shutout baseball with five strikeouts.
