VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team opens the 2022 NCAA South Regional on Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. versus Nova Southeastern on the campus of the University of Tampa.  The Blazers are the No. 4-seed in the regional pod, while Nova Southeastern is the No. 5-seed. 
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  Click here for the NCAA South Regional Championship page.  The regional will be broadcast on 94.3 WJEM FM for Thursday and Friday's games and www.foxsportsvaldosta.com, and if the Blazers advance to Saturday, the game(s) would then be broadcast on Talk 92.1 FM WDDQ and www.talk921.com for the remainder of the regional.  Spencer Van Horn will have the call of the regional for the Blazers.
 
Top-seeded Tampa opens the regional pod battling No. 8-seed Spring Hill College at 1 p.m., prior to the Blazers game.  The losers of Thursday's games will meet on Friday at 12 p.m., in an elimination game, followed by the winners playing at 4 p.m.  
 
In the South Regional #2 pod, No. 2-seed and host Saint Leo battles No. 7-seed Lee, while No. 3-seed Rollins tangles with No. 6-seed Delta State.  The Blazers enter the regional with a 30-14 record overall and went 4-1 against the entire region field, with wins over Saint Leo (2x) and Lee (2x), along with an early season loss to Nova Southeastern.
 
The winners of each of the four-team pods will meet in a Super Regional, scheduled for a best-of-three series, May 27-28, at the highest remaining seed to see who earns a berth in the NCAA Division II National Championship rounds, scheduled for June 4-11 in Cary, N.C., at the USA Baseball Training Complex.
 
Nova Southeastern enters with a 34-15 record overall and went 17-13 in Sunshine State Conference play.  The Sharks downed VSU in the second week of the season in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in a single game. NSU leads the all-time series with VSU, 11-7. 
 
In the game in February, NSU posted a 13-3 victory as VSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a junior EJ Doskow two run home run.  NSU scored one run in the second and then four in the third and one in the fifth for a 6-2 lead.  VSU scored on a graduate student Mike Christopoulos RBI double in the sixth, but NSU added four more in the bottom of the frame, outscoring VSU 7-0 over the final three innings.  A season-high five errors on the Blazers proved costly leading to eight unearned runs in the contest.  
 
NSU has won three of the last four meetings in the series.  Prior to the meeting this season on Feb. 11, 2022, the teams had not met since Feb. 18-19, 2011, while NSU went 2-1 against the Blazers in a three-game set.  
 
This season, the Sharks had five players earn All-SSC honors with two first team selections in Daniel Irisari and Adan Fernandez, while Duncan Pastore, Jeremy Cook and Michael Dillon were second team honorees.  Irisarri is second on the team in average at a .346 clip in 46 starts.  He has 62 hits for second on the team, along with six doubles, two triples, three home runs and 39 RBI, while scoring 37 runs.  He is a perfect 18 of 18 in stolen bases this season.  Fernandez earned all-league honors for the second-straight season, leading the Sharks in home runs (10) for the third consecutive season. Fernandez hit 0.310 on the season, driving in 42 and totaling 11 doubles. 
 
Pastore leads the team in average at a .360 clip.  He has a team-high 63 hits, 47 runs scored, 13 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 55 RBI.  He is 14 of 16 in stolen bases and has a team-high 11 sacrifice flies and been plunked ten times.  Cook anchored the Nova Southeastern pitching staff throughout the season, making a team-high 14 starts on the 2022 campaign. The south-paw registered a perfect 4-0 record in Sunshine State Conference play, pitching to a 3.88 earned run average, striking out 52 in 55.2 innings pitched.  Dillon was the definition of shutdown reliever for the Sharks, making an immediate impact as the closer for Nova Southeastern in his first season. On the campaign, Dillon finished the season with a stellar 1.57 ERA, earning 14 saves, while pitching 23 innings and striking out 19.
 
NSU head coach Laz Gutierrez is in his third year at the helm of the Sharks.  He is 58-38 during his tenure as the fourth head coach in the program history.
 
In the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 25, the Blazers are 25^th this week, while Nova Southeastern is 28^th.  Tampa leads the teams in the regional ranked second, while Saint Leo is eighth, followed by Rollins at 18^th and Delta State sits 26^th.   Lee is among others receiving votes.
 
Tampa enters with a 40-10 record overall and went 24-6 in SSC play.  The Spartans lead the all-time series with VSU 33-22, but the Blazers won the last meeting in an 8-3 decision on Mar. 20, 2019, in Tampa.  VSU also has won four of five and six of ten in the series.  Tampa is 3-1 in the postseason against VSU as the last meeting in postseason came on May 16, 2009, in Magnolia, Ark., where VSU won 10-5.  
 
Spring Hill College enters with a 38-13 record overall and went 23-4 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  The Badgers won the league tournament title and has won seven-straight games overall.  SHC and VSU have not met on the diamond. 
 
The Blazers had two players earn First Team All-GSC honors this season as Doskow was named GSC Co-Player of the Year and earned first team honors, while senior pitcher Elijah Gill also earned first team accolades.  
 
Nationally speaking, the Blazers are second in the GSC and 36^th nationally in ERA at a 4.45 clip, as Tampa leads the nation at a 2.71 average.  VSU is sixth nationally in shutouts (7), to lead the league, while it is 31^st nationally and tops in the conference in strikeout-to-walk-ratio at a 2.53 clip.  The Blazers also lead the league in WHIP at a 1.43 mark for 31^st nationally and are seventh nationally in walks allowed per nine innings (2.94).  Individually, Gill leads the GSC in ERA at a 2.97 clip, while Doskow leads the league in on base percentage at a .486 clip.  Gill is fourth in the GSC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.79), second in strikeouts (91) for 36^th nationally and second in strikeouts per nine innings (10.82).  His eight victories are good for fourth in the conference and 38^thnationally. 
 
The Blazers are 52-46 all-time in the NCAA postseason and making their 22^nd trip all-time.  VSU won the national title in 1979 and has two third-place finishes and finished fourth on three occasions.  The 52 victories are ninth all-time in Division II and the 22 appearances are good for tenth all-time. 
 
Nova Southeastern is making its eighth trip this season and is 17-13 all-time with a national title in 2016.  Spring Hill qualified in 2019 for the first time since moving to D2 and is 0-2 with losses to Tampa and Nova Southeastern.  Tampa is 134-63 in its 36^thappearance with eight national titles, two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes.  
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com for complete recaps and stats of each game this weekend.