VALDOSTA, Ga.  – The No. 11 Valdosta State baseball team struggled again on Saturday in a pair of losses to Lee as the Flames swept a three-game Gulf South Conference series.  Lee battled back from a 5-2 deficit in the opener for an 8-5 win and then posted a 4-1 victory in the nightcap. 
 
The Blazers fell to 12-6 overall and 4-4 in Gulf South Conference play, while Lee improved to 13-9 and 6-3 in conference play.  VSU hit just .175 for the doubleheader Saturday on 10 of 57 from the dish, scoring six runs with one double and one triple, while driving in four.  Lee hit .328 on 20 of 61 from the plate scoring 12 runs, one double, one home run and drove in 12 for the twin bill.  VSU walked 13 batters for the doubleheader, while Lee had just three free passes.  
 
Senior Mike Christopoulos went 3 for 7 in the doubleheader with an RBI, while senior David Maberry was 2 for 6 with two runs scored, a double and one RBI.  
 
In the opener, the Blazers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning as Christopoulos singled home Maberry after he doubled in the frame.  Lee scored two runs in the top of the fifth, but senior Tristan Cone got out of the jam as the Flames left the bags full.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, VSU plated four runs on three hits with two Lee errors helping the cause.  Senior Nick Lewis used an RBI triple and Maberry singled home a run, while a run scored on a wild pitch and one of the miscues for a 5-1 lead.  
 
Walks proved costly for the Blazers in the game as they issued eight free passes, two in the sixth as Cone was replaced by senior Alex Tyson.  With the bases loaded, Lee's Alan Smith blasted a grand slam for a 7-5 score.  Lee added a run in the seventh for an 8-5 lead, while VSU didn't have the late-inning heroics this time.  
 
Maberry and Christopoulos each had two hits in the game for the Blazers, while Smith went 2 for 4 for Lee with one run scored and five RBI, as five different players had two hits each.  Junior Weston Bizzle (0-1) took the loss, allowing three hits, four earned runs and walked one without registering an out.  Cone went five innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs, walked six and fanned four in the no decision.  Seth Konkel (1-1) took the win in relief, going 4.1 innings, allowing three hits, two unearned runs and fanned two.  
 
In the nightcap, Lee did its damage in the second inning, plating four runs on four hits, while leaving the bases loaded.  Thomas Zazzaro singled home two runs and the Flames used an RBI single and a bases loaded walk.  
 
Lee starter Randall Coxwell had a no-hitter through four innings as junior Jakob Sessa broke up the no-no with a single to begin the bottom of the fifth.  Coxwell got out of the inning unscathed.  
 
The Blazers made some noise in their final at bat as Maberry reached on a miscue and walked followed.  Christopoulos singled and then junior Jisjar Clotida singled home the first run of the game for VSU.  Lee made a move to the bullpen with the bases loaded as Andrew Franklin relieved Coxwell with one out in the frame.  Sessa was out at the plate on a fielder's choice for the second out and junior Chase Coker grounded out to end the game.
 
Coxwell (2-2) went 6.1 innings, allowing three hits, one unearned run, walked two and fanned seven and Franklin picked up the save in 0.2 innings.  Cain (2-2) took the loss in 6.1 innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs, walked five and fanned eight.   
 
VSU heads to Albany State for a 4 p.m. game on Tuesday and the heads to Union for a three-game series beginning Mar. 14 at 2 p.m. ET with a doubleheader, followed by a single game Mar. 15 at 2 p.m. ET.  The Blazers then return home to host Albany State on Mar. 17 at 5 p.m. and Brewton-Parker on Mar. 18, also at 5 p.m.