VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team opens the 2020 season Friday against Embry-Riddle at 5 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.  The series then will conclude with a doubleheader set for Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and streaming for the series at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for complete recaps and stats of the games each day.
 
The Blazers are coming off a 32-23 record in 2019 and a berth in the NCAA Division II South Sub-Regional final.  VSU went 14-12 in Gulf South Conference play last season and caught fire towards the end of the season, reaching the final day of the Gulf South Conference Championship.  
 
VSU is under the direction of head coach Greg Guilliams, who enters his 13^th season at the helm of the program.  He is 371-245-1 (.602) at VSU and is 1048-502-2 (.676) beginning his 30^th year of coaching overall.  Guilliams was at Embry-Riddle for 16 seasons, prior to coming to VSU in 2007.  
 
This marks the third-straight year VSU has opened with Embry-Riddle.  Last season, the Blazers swept the three-game series in Daytona Beach, Fla., outscoring the Eagles 18-9 in the three-game series.  In 2018, VSU won two of three in Valdosta, outscoring ERAU 15-8.  VSU leads the all-time series with ERAU 9-2 and has won five-straight.  The Blazers are 6-1 all-time against the Eagles in Valdosta.  
 
The Blazers were picked fourth in the 2020 Preseason Gulf South Conference Poll, while seniors Tristan Cone, Jowenrick Daantji and Logan Stephens were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.  
 
Delta State was picked to repeat as league champions, followed by West Florida, Mississippi College and the Blazers.  Alabama Huntsville rounded out the top five in the poll.  
 
Cone had a great season in 2019 as he tossed a complete-game gem in a 6-1 win over Eckerd in the first game of the 2019 NCAA South Region Baseball Championship.  Cone went 5-1 with a 3.21 ERA in 20 appearances with 14 starts for the season.  He had two complete games, logging a team-high 81.1 innings, while fanning a team-high 87 as teams hit just .246 against him.  Cone earned second team all-conference honors last season.
 
Daantji had a great season in the middle infield for the Blazers in 2019 as he earned second team all-conference honors and earned second team D2CCA all-region accolades and honorable mention NCBWA all-region honors.  Daantji hit .328 for the Blazers last season in 51 games started.  He had 67 hits with 12 doubles, four triples, one home run, while driving in 44 and scoring 39 runs.  He reached base at a .383 clip and went 25 of 31 in stolen bases to lead the team.  
 
Stephens earned second team all-conference honors last season as he led the team hitting .370 on 64 of 173 from the dish.  Stephens tallied 12 doubles, one triple, one home run, while he drove in 32 and scored 35 times.  He slugged .468 and reached base at a .436 clip, playing 51 games with 45 starts.  
 
The Blazers are receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball's 2020 Preseason NCAA Division II Poll, which was released on Dec. 17, 2019.  Tampa, who won the national championship last season and who VSU defeated a year ago in Tampa, was tabbed as the national favorite, while Delta State was 11^th in the poll and West Florida was 22^nd.  Mississippi College was among others receiving votes.   
 
Embry-Riddle was picked fourth in the 2020 Sunshine State Conference Preseason Poll as Tampa was tabbed the league favorite, followed by Nova Southeastern, Florida Southern, ERAU and Florida Tech rounded out the top five.  The Eagles are coming off a 29-22 season in 2019 and an 18-12 mark in the SSC.  ERAU qualified for the NCAA South Regional, falling in Cleveland, Miss., to Delta State and Eckerd in the same half of the regional where VSU was.  
 
The Eagles return all-region pitcher in Garrett Goodall this season.  Goodall went 8-2 last season in 17 appearances with 11 starts.  He had one complete game, one shutout and one save in a team-high 84 innings of work.  Goodall allowed 81 hits, 43 runs – 29 earned, walked 25 and fanned 66 as teams hit .249 against him.  He is expected to be the Friday evening starter for the Eagles.  
 
Also returning for the Eagles this season is Luis Olivier, who hit .353 last season with 72 hits, nine doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 51 RBI, while scoring 42 runs to lead the team.  Olivier earned second team all-conference honors last season.  Kyle Guttveg also returns to the lineup as he hit .307 last season with 69 hits, 41 runs scored, 13 doubles one triple and three home runs, while driving in 21.  
 
Along with Goodall on the bump, Payton Rice returns as he was 5-6 last season with 5.06 ERA in 15 appearances with 14 starts in 78.1 innings of work.  Samuel Brunnig returns out of the bullpen as he played in 19 games with three starts and one save for 49.2 innings.  
 
ERAU is coached by Randy Stegall, who replaced Gulliams in the summer of 2007.  Stegall is 491-259-1 at ERAU and has won 40 or more games his first nine seasons in Daytona Beach.  
 
The Blazers welcome a number of new faces for 2020, including Division I transfers in Dalton Board (North Florida) and David Maberry (North Florida), along with Tampa transfer Alec Aleywine, who earned second team all-conference honors for the Spartans last season.  He had 54 hits for fifth on the team with 11 doubles, four triples and he tied for second on the team with eight round-trippers.  Aleywine drove in 33 and scored 46 runs for third on the team.
 
Maberry earned second team all-conference honors for the Ospreys last season as he led the team in hitting at .327.  Maberry tallied 52 hits with 14 doubles to lead the team.  He had one home run, drove in a team-high 38 and scored 12. Runs.  Board played three seasons for the Ospreys from 2016-2018.  He started 40 games and played in 41 in 2018 in the outfield, as he hit over .300 for the second-straight year.  Board recorded five doubles, one home run, 35 runs scored and drove in 21.  
 
Also returning in the field for the Blazers this season are seniors Mike Christopoulos and Jordan Holt, along with juniors Seth Caballes and Jon Jon Burkett.  Christopoulos hit .259 with 23 hits, 25 runs scored and 10 RBI last season playing mostly at third base.  Caballes tallied 18 hits with 12 runs scored and 12 RBI, while Holt hit .245 with 23 hits, 25 runs scored and 10 RBI.  Holt was a speedster on the base paths as he was 18 of 20 in stolen bases.  
 
Along with Cone on the bump, seniors Tyler Moore, Alex Tyson, Cooper Cain, Anthony Dahl, Zach Blankenship and Bryce Van Horn all return.  Blankenship went 7-2 in 19 appearances with 12 starts to lead the team in wins, while pitching 70.1 innings and striking out 69.  Van Horn appeared in 27 games and 20.3 innings last season, while Tyson appeared in 22 games with three starts.  
 
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association South Region rankings and Preseason All-Region Team were released this week.  Tampa was tabbed the region favorite, followed by Delta State and a tie for third between Nova Southeastern and West Florida.  Florida Southern was fifth, followed by Mississippi College, VSU, Embry-Riddle, Florida Tech and Barry.  Cone earned first team preseason all-region accolades, along with Aleywine, while Daantji was a second-team honoree.  Olivier and Goodall were named to the preseason all-region teams for Embry-Riddle.  Olivier earned first team honors, and Goodall was a second team selection. 
 
Following the series, VSU heads on the road at the Wingate Classic in Wingate, N.C., Feb. 7-8, before returning home to host Shorter in the 2020 Gulf South Conference opener Feb. 15-16.