VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State Blazers won its six straight game and swept its opponent for the second week in a row after an 11-3 win followed by a close 4-3 win over West Georgia.
 
The Blazers (20-12, 18-11 Gulf South Conference) were led by both Ben Rowdon and Ryan Delnegro who finished the doubleheader with four hits each. Nick Lewis and Collin Teegarden both came away with three RBI during the doubleheader as six different Blazers were able to drive in at least one runner across the plate. The Blazers got off to a quick start in game one, recording at least one run in the first four innings. Up 6-3 after the fifth, VSU looked to get some insurance runs on the board, led off by a Lewis homerun. The sixth inning saw three separate Blazers hit one out of the park, extending its lead to 11-3. The VSU pitching core accounted for 10 strikeouts in game one, highlighted by Tristan Cone's seven. In game two, the Blazers took over after the fourth inning where it saw its four runs come off of four hits, just enough to get the win and the sweep. In total, VSU recorded 22 hits off 66 at-bats as UWG was only able to record 19 off 70 at-bats. VSU saw 14 of its runners stranded while UWG left 19 runs stranded on the base pads.
 
The Blazers will hit the road next weekend for a weekend series against Christian Brothers. The Blazers are set for a doubleheader Saturday, Apr. 24 at 12 p.m., followed by a single game the following day at 1 p.m. Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming and ticket information for the games at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.
 
VALDOSTA STATE 11, WEST GEORGIA 3
 
West Georgia was able to get on the board first to put VSU down early. Rowdon was the first Blazer to get on the basepads where he eventually found himself at second off a bunt. Jowenrick Daantji smacked one through the right side which drove Rowdon home. Daantji made his way to third after a failed pickoff attempt, putting himself in place for a David Maberry RBI. UWG was able to tie things up at two in the second with a leadoff homerun, however.
 
In the bottom of the second, Teegarden found first off a fielders choice, followed up by a Jacob Harper bunt to push him to second. Rowdon hit a dribbler up the middle to jack the bases with one out, bringing up Nick Lewis. On an 0-1 count, Lewis blasted his 14^th double of the season, bringing in two runners to regain the lead at 4-2. EJ Doskow added another run for the Blazers with a solo shot deep passed the left field fence for his sixth homerun of the year.
 
The Blazers kept its bats rolling where Lewis reached on a fielder's choice followed by a stolen base to get in scoring position. Daantji ripped a single up the middle, deep into center, to drive Lewis home to put its lead up to four. The Wolves were able to close the gap with a run of its own in the fifth, inching closer to a tie game. After a quick top of the sixth, Lewis led off with a solo shot to left center to put the lead back to four, followed by a Maberry moonshot out of the park to give VSU an 8-3 lead. The Blazers didn't stop there though, as Doskow was able to steal home to put the lead to six, followed by a Teegarden blast to put VSU up 11-3.
 
The Blazers were put in a tough situation as UWG loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Jeremy Adams was able to take care of business though after two flyouts and a strikeout to get VSU out of the inning safely. VSU was able to put the game to bed with a groundout double play to easily win game one 11-3.
 
VALDOSTA STATE 4, WEST GEORGIA 3
 
Both teams were scoreless in the first two innings before UWG would break things up in the third with a RBI triple followed by a single. The Wolves added another run the following inning off a passed ball to take a 3-0 advantage after the top of the third.
 
The Blazers bats were flat as it hadn't recorded a hit until the fourth inning which was a breakout one for VSU. Daantji recorded the first hit for the Blazers, followed by a Maberry single and a Jordan Holt walk to jack the bases. Doskow found the second pitch of his at-bat towards center for a single to drive in the Blazers first runner. A wild pitch brought home Maberry, followed by Delnegro who hit one hard to the shortstop for another RBI. Teegarden kept things rolling the next at-bat with a deep sacrifice fly to give VSU the lead at 4-3.
 
Both teams were playing strong defensively during the fifth, sixth, and seventh frame where only one hit was recorded by the Wolves. The Wolves put some pressure on as it was able to get the tying run 90 feet away from home, but Zach Henderson came up big on the mound as he froze the batter at the plate for out number three. VSU couldn't add any more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth so it turned to its defense to get the job done.
 
Jakob Barker came in to pitch for the save and try to complete the series sweep over the Wolves. After a fly out to right field, Barker took control and fanned the next two batters to finish the game and complete the sweep 4-3.