CLINTON, Ms. – The No. 19 Valdosta State baseball team defeated Mississippi College 8-3 in its last game of weekend away series. The Blazers improved to 19-6 overall and 11-3 in Gulf South Conference play and the Choctaws fell to 11-19 overall and 6-9 in the GSC.
Mississippi College got on the board first with one in the first inning, but the Blazers answered back and added one in the second with a solo home run from graduate student Mike Christopoulos.
Valdosta State added one more in the third and fifth as junior Ryan Romano crossed home plate and junior Bryson Gandy homered for his second home run of the weekend and season.
The Choctaws added one in the fifth and one in the eighth but couldn't tally more as the Blazers added four in the sixth and one in the seventh.
In the sixth, junior EJ Doskow singled to left field and scored on a single to the shortstop from freshman Cory McCann. Before the half inning was finished, sophomore Jacob Harper hit a three-run homerun to pull away from the Choctaws.
The Blazers outhit the Choctaws 11-7 as both teams had three errors. Valdosta State also tallied eight RBI, two doubles, three home runs, one stolen base, and three free passes.
Leading the Blazer offense was Doskow going 3-5 with two doubles, one RBI, and one run scored. Romano followed behind going 2-5 with one run scored and the only stolen base. Along with the home runs by Gandy, Christopoulos, and Harper, hits for the Blazers were recorded by junior David Crawford (1), junior Orlando Adams (1), and McCann (1).
Starting on the mound for the Blazers was junior Kevin Tomas as he threw four innings and recorded three strikeouts and gave up three hits and one run.
Junior Brandon Raiden relieved Tomas and threw 3 innings and recorded the win for the Blazers (5-1). Raiden tallied two strikeouts and gave up four hits and two runs. Junior Zach Henderson also threw for Valdosta State to finish the game and recorded one strikeout.
The Blazers are back at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park on Wednesday, March 30, for a midweek matchup against Flagler College at 6 p.m.
For all information on Blazer baseball visit vstateblazers.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.
