VALDOSTA, Ga. - The No. 19 Valdosta State baseball team rallied back from yesterday's victory with a pair of wins during Sunday's doubleheader as it won game one 10-9 in extra innings followed by a 9-0 victory.
 
The Blazers (5-3, 5-3 Gulf South Conference) were able to come back from an eight-run deficit to force extra innings with help from four separate Blazers who led the team with 2 RBI as Jowenrick Daantji led the team with three hits. Over the course of the two games, Ben Rowdon led with five RBI and one homerun, along with his four hits. Zach Blankenship led the Blazers to victory in game two where he threw a complete game with 10 strikeouts, one hit, one walk, and holding his opponents to a .034 batting average.
 
The Blazers quickly head on the road for a matchup at Flagler Tuesday, Feb. 23., the start of an eight-game road trip against Shorter, Montevallo, and Georgia Southwestern. Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming and ticket information for the games at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.
 
#19 VALDOSTA STATE 10, AUBURN MONTGOMERY 9 (11 Inn.)
 
Despite starting pitcher Tristan Cone striking out nine batters, the Warhawks took advantage of his pitching early on. AUM jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead from a deep homerun to left field and added two more the following inning from a bases clearing double to go ahead 4-0.
 
The Blazers struggled offensively early on as it got a hit in the first but went three-straight innings without putting a hit on the board. VSU didn't make it back to the start of its lineup until the fourth inning where it left Rowdon stranded after battling back from a 0-2 count to draw a walk.
 
AUM blew the doors open during the fifth as they ran through its entire lineup off three hits and two Blazer errors to now put the Blazer deficit to eight. Slowly, the Blazers gained momentum where it recorded its second hit on the day in the fifth from Jake Sessa, putting two runners in scoring position after Chase Coker saw the pads from a walk and advanced on a wild pitch. The Blazers came away with nothing and left two on base but took away a little bit of the heat it was feeling from the Warhawks.
 
Both teams were scoreless and hitless during the sixth and AUM couldn't get anything going in the top of seven. An important seventh inning for the Blazers, Jordan Holt got things going with a single to left field off a 3-2 count, followed by Coker who followed in Holt's footsteps and added a single of his own. Sessa came up to the plate and was able to drive in the first Blazer off a single to break its scoreless drought while also advancing to second on the throw, putting two Blazers in scoring position. Still with no outs on the board, Jisjar Clotida singled right up the middle to bring in both base runners, chipping away at the lead. VSU was able to chase away starting pitcher Troy Jones after the three runs but his relief couldn't control the Blazers as Rowdon batted in Clotida followed by a Daantji RBI, bringing Colin Teegarden home. The Blazers finished a big seventh inning with five hits and five runs to cut its deficit to just three.
 
Neither team recorded a hit in the next inning and a half, putting the Blazers down three with just three outs left. Clotida drew a walk, followed by a Ralph Morla Jr. double to put the tying run at the plate. Teegarden was walked to load the bases, which put Daantji in place to bring in Clotida after a ground out. Now down two with two outs, Ryan Delnegro battled through a 3-2 to smack a single into left field to bring in two Blazers to tie it up at eight which would be the score after nine.
 
With a runner already in scoring position due to international baseball extra inning rule, AUM was able to send him home off a double but would be its only run, putting the Blazers down. The Blazers answered with a sacrifice fly from Sessa to send Holt home after his stolen base, but AUM was able to retire two more to put the game tied after 10.
 
The Warhawks left two on base with no hits to give the Blazers the opportunity to close it out in the 11^th. Delnegro was intentionally walked after Daantji singled off a bunt, loading the bases with no outs. Coker came up to the plate and didn't swing at a single pitch to draw a walk-off walk, completing the eight-run comeback.
 
#19 VALDOSTA STATE 9, AUBURN MONTGOMERY 0
 
The Warhawks got off to a fast start where its first batter was able to get on base but that was all as VSU retired the next three. Mirroring what AUM had done last game, the Blazers were able to send two across the plate during its first at-bat where Rowdon hit his second homerun of the season a few batters before David Maberry doubled to left to bring in a runner. VSU mirrored AUM's second inning as well where it sent Delnegro across the plate off a fielding error followed by another run by Holt from a passed ball which gave the Blazers a quick 4-0 lead after two innings.
 
The Blazers saw action again in the fourth where Rowdon was able to knock one in with one out, followed by a Daantji single which sent both baserunners across home plate. Now up seven headed into the fifth, the Blazers didn't let up. Sessa played the pads just right where he was able to steal home after his double and advancement off a wild pitch which put the Blazers up eight after five innings.
 
Blankenship was dealing as he and his defense saw six straight one, two, three innings which spanned from the second through the seventh still with no hits. In the top of the sixth, Coker made a terrific diving grab in right field followed by Holt who mimicked Coker with a diving grab of his own to keep up its defensive pressure.
 
In the top of the eighth, Blankenship walked his first batter of the game and saw the first baserunner since the top of the first but was able to squeeze out of the inning, leaving that runner stranded. AUM was able to get its sole hit with one out in the top of the ninth, ending Blankenship's no-hitter bid, but he came back and was able to putout the next two batters to end his dominant performance and lead the Blazers to a 9-0 victory.