VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 12 Valdosta State baseball team dropped the first game of its Gulf South Conference weekend series 5-4 with Christian Brothers. The Blazers fell to 20-7 overall and 11-4 in the GSC while the Bucs improved to 9-20 overall and 5-11 in the GSC.
 
The series will finish with a doubleheader tomorrow, Sun. April 3, beginning at 12 p.m. 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.
 
VSU drew first blood in the bottom of the second as an error scored the first run, followed by a RBI ground out from Bryson Gandy for a 2-0 lead.   
 
In the top of the third, the Blazers retired the first two batters of the inning, but an error led to an RBI single with two away and a 2-1 Blazer lead.  VSU used a walk and an infield single for runners at the corners in the bottom of the third with one away.  An error on CBU plated a run for a 3-1 lead and the second error by the Bucs in the game.   
 
Blazer senior hurler Elijah Gill retired the first two batters in the top of the fourth, but a single from Ben Brocato and an RBI double from Kelton Castillo pulled CBU within 3-2 with two away.  Matthew McDaniel then scored Castillo on an RBI single for a 3-3 score.  Gill came up with a big strikeout for the second out.   
 
A walk and a double put two on for the Bucs in the top of the fifth with one away.  Gill came up with a big strikeout for the second out.  Two out scoring continued to plague the Blazers as Brocato singled through the right side for a 4-3 CBU lead.  The Blazers went to the bullpen in favor of junior Zach Henderson.   Henderson got out of the inning with a groundout to himself.  
 
VSU put two on with one out in the bottom of the sixth on a single and a walk off CBU reliever Hayden Smith in his first inning of work.  A walk loaded the bases for the Blazers.  Junior David Crawford drew a walk to tie the game at 4-4.  VSU was unable to do any further damage in the frame.   
 
Brocato added to his day with a leadoff home run in the top of the eighth for a 5-4 CBU lead off VSU sophomore reliever Nick Ferrara.   The Blazers then opened the bottom of the eighth with a double from sophomore Jacob Harper.  He then moved to third on a fly out and then was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice.  CBU came up with another fielder's choice out, this time at third to end the threat. 
 
VSU had one last chance in the bottom of the ninth and senior Jisjar Clotida walked with one out putting the potential tying run on base.  A walk to graduate student Mike Christopoulos put the tying run in scoring position.  CBU got a fielder's choice out to end the game.
 
The Blazers finished the game with nine hits, three RBI, one double, eight free passes, and two stolen bases. Crawford led the Blazers going 2-3 with one RBI, two walks, and the only two stolen bases. Harper followed behind going 2-5 with one double and one run scored.
 
On the mound, the Blazers recorded 12 strikeouts and gave up 10 hits, four earned runs out of five runs, and one free pass. Ferrara recorded the loss for Valdosta State (1-1).
 
For all information on Blazer baseball visit vstateblazers.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.