VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team is set to face Flagler College on Wednesday, Mar. 2 at 5 p.m. in St. Augustine, Fla. VSU enters the matchup 9-4 overall, while Flagler sits at 5-8 overall.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the games at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page. Check back with the site for complete recaps and stats of each game throughout the season.
 
Last week, the Blazers went 3-0 with wins over Georgia Southwestern (11-5) and two great victories by one run each at Lee, winning the opener 8-7 and the nightcap, 4-3.  VSU redshirt senior outfielder Luke Ard was honored as the Gulf South Conference Player of the week for his efforts last week.  The Valdosta, Ga., native, hit .615 for the week on 8 of 13 at the plate with three runs scored, two doubles and drove in six, while slugging .769 and recording ten total bases. He reached base at a .667 clip with one walk and one hit batsmen.
Ard had 12 putouts in the outfield for the Blazers in 13 chances. He currently has a five-game hitting streak for the second-highest current streak on the team.  Against Georgia Southwestern, Ard went a season-best 4 of 5 from the dish with three RBI, one run scored and two doubles.  
 
Not only did Ard excel last week, but the whole team did as it hit .307 with 31 hits, 23 runs scored, six doubles and 18 RBI.  The staff held the opposition to a .275 average, allowing 28 hits, 15 runs – 11 earned, walked ten and fanned 22. Offensively, junior Ryan Romano scored a team-high seven runs for the week, while junior EJ Doskow drove in three and senior Jisjar Clotida had four hits with one double and two RBI.  
 
On the bump, graduate student Adrian Garrastazu had a 0.00 ERA over six innings of work in two appearances and one start. He started the midweek game against GSW, going four innings of one-hit baseball with no walks and five strikeouts, while he came in for the final two innings allowing one hit, walking one and fanning two in a 4-3 win over Lee to clinch the series on Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of the Flames on the road.  Garrastazu came into the game with a 4-1 lead in the sixth, with two on and nobody out.  He prevented Lee from scoring the tying run in the frame and also fanned two in the seventh to get his first save of the season.  Senior Elijah Gill earned the win in the opener against Lee, sophomore junior JJ Finn picked up the victory in the nightcap. 
 
The Blazers are currently tied for fourth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) South Region poll with 38 points. Nova Southeastern and Tampa tops the list tied at first with 66 points, each, followed by Rollins (48), Valdosta State (38), West Florida (38), Lynn (33), Shorter (26), Montevallo (20), Florida Tech (16), Florida Southern (9), and Savannah State (9).  Prior to last week, VSU had been receiving votes in the poll.
 
VSU leads the all-time series with Flagler, 19-12 and has won the last three in the series, including a 7-2 victory in St. Augustine in the last meeting on Feb. 23, 2021.  VSU also won in St. Augustine on Apr. 23, 2019, but has won just three of the last nine meetings there.  This will be the first of three meetings with the Saints this season, as VSU welcomes Flagler on Mar. 30, 2022, at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park, and then again on Apr. 27.  

Nationally speaking, VSU is sixth nationally in sacrifice bunts to lead the league with 11, while it is second in the GSC and 32^nd nationally in sacrifice flies with seven. The Blazers are 29^th nationally in triples with five to lead the league.  VSU is third in the GSC with a 3.83 ERA for 40^th nationally and is third in the league in WHIP (1.38), while it is second in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.41).  Offensively, Romano is tenth nationally and first in the GSC in runs scored with 21, while Doskow is fourth nationally and tops in the GSC in RBI with 25.  
 
Flagler went 17-21 last season and was picked tied for sixth in the preseason Peach Belt Conference poll for 2022.  Head coach Dave Barnett is in his 35^th season at the helm of the program and is 13 wins shy of 1,000.  He welcomes back seven players with starting experience this season.
 
The Saints host Assumption (Mass.) on Tuesday before welcoming the Blazers on Wednesday.  Flagler is hitting .215 for the season with 95 hits, 47 runs scored, 14 doubles, one triple and four home runs while driving in 41.  The staff has a 4.29 ERA in 119.2 innings, allowing 128 hits, 71 runs – 57 earned, walked 35 and fanned 100.  Individually, Ashton Thomas leads the team with a .378 average on 14 of 37 from the dish with two runs scored, four doubles and eight RBI.  
 
For all information on Blazer baseball visit vstateblazer.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.