CLEVELAND, Miss. - The Valdosta State Blazers fell behind late during its matchup against Delta State Friday night, dropping the series opener 5-3.
 
The Blazers (14-10, 12-9 Gulf South Conference) were led by Jowenrick Daantji who recorded two hits for two RBI, where VSU finished with four total players with two hits. The Blazers went up early, recording its three runs through three innings, but a late comeback in the eighth followed by a walk off homerun from the Statesmen gave the Blazers its fourth straight loss. Elijah Gill, VSU's starting pitcher, lit up DSU as he saw seven innings and recorded eight strikeouts, only allowing four hits. In total, VSU recorded 10 hits off 34 at-bats, taking the edge over DSU where it recorded six from 32 at-bats. Both teams only left six runners stranded where the Blazers recorded two errors over the nine innings.
 
The Blazers return to the diamond tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET to wrap up its weekend series against Delta State with a doubleheader. Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming and ticket information for the games at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.
 
DELTA STATE 5, VALDOSTA STATE 3
 
Daantji was able to get things going in the top of the second with a single through the left side. Daantji played the bags well where he stole second to put himself in scoring position, enough for Logan Stephens to drive him in from a long single. Delta State tried to get thing started with its first hit in the second, but its runner was left stranded. The scoring didn't end there for the Blazers as it was able to rally with two gone. Nick Lewis and David Maberry both singled to put runners on first and second, followed by an EJ Doskow walk to jack the bases. Daantji recorded his second hit of the game, which was a big one, driving in two runners to increase its lead to 3-0 but left two runners stranded. Gill was dealing through three where he struck out his fifth batter for the Blazers second one-two-three inning.
 
From then on, the game was a defensive battle as both teams saw three quick outs in the fourth, followed by a fifth inning where each team only recorded one hit. The Blazers looked to tack on some insurance runs as Chase Coker smacked a single, followed by a Stephens deep single to push Coker to third. Stephens stole second to put two runners in scoring position, but Delta State stranded both runners. In the bottom of the sixth, the Statesmen leadoff hitter found first off an error but VSU retired the next three batters.
 
The defensive battle continued in the seventh as each team added on another hit, but it wasn't enough to push any runners across. Delta State made the top of the eighth quick, retiring the first three VSU batters to bring up its offense. Gill pitched all the way until the eighth, after a phenomenal performance, where he was taken out after a single and a hit by pitch to put two runners on with no outs. Both runners went up a base after a passed ball to put the tying run at the plate. A fielding error during the next at-bat pushed a Statesmen across home to break it open for DSU. A double the following batter brought in the second runner of the inning, followed by a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three going into the ninth inning.
 
VSU wasn't able to get anything started in the ninth as its first three were sent back to the dugout to bring up a big defensive effort for VSU in the bottom of the ninth. DSU's leadoff hitter found first which set Delta State up for a walk off homerun to give the Statesmen the 5-3 win.