VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team opened the 2023 Gulf South Conference slate with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Mississippi College Saturday afternoon at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.  VSU won the opener 11-4 and the nightcap 7-3. 
 
The Blazers improved to 7-2 overall and 2-0 in league play with the sweep, while Mississippi College fell to 2-8 and 0-2 in league play.  The teams will conclude the three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m.  Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the game at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page, while the game also will be broadcast on 94.3 WJEM FM with Bill Malone having the call and on foxsportsvaldosta.com.
 
VALDOSTA STATE 11, MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 4 (GAME ONE)
In the opener, VSU scored 11 runs on ten hits and one error, while MC had four runs on seven hits and four errors.  The Blazers broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the third inning, plating five runs on three hits.  Back-to-back walks began the inning, followed by junior Orlando Adams single through the left side for an RBI and a 1-0 lead.  A fielder's choice RBI followed and graduate student JP Gates singled through the right side for a 3-0 lead.  Junior Jacob Harper grounded out to shortstop, plating graduate student Nick Gonzalez and sophomore Connor Morgan doubled to right center for a 5-0 lead. 
 
VSU added five more runs in the fourth inning after a leadoff single from junior Preston Joye and junior David Crawford doubled him home.  Adams reached on an error plating Crawford, while Gonzalez singled to left center for an 8-1 lead, after MC's JT Vance began the top of the fourth with a leadoff home run.  VSU used a bases loaded walk for a 9-1 score and a wild pitch for a 10-1 advantage.  
 
An RBI on a double play scored the second run of the game for the Choctaws in the fifth and they added two runs in the sixth on an error by the Blazers for a 10-4 score.  Crawford then singled to left in the bottom of the seventh scoring sophomore Trent Lewis for an 11-4 advantage.  
 
For the game, Gates finished 2 for 4 with two runs scored and one RBI, while Crawford was 2 for 3 with two runs scored, a double, a walk and two RBI to earn Guardian Bank Blazer Player of the Game honors.  Freshman Anthony Martens (3-0) earns the win in relief of sophomore starter Zach Dodson.  Martens pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two hits, three runs – one earned and walked two. Dodson went four innings, allowing four hits, one earned run and fanned four.  
 
VALDOSTA STATE 7, MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE 3 (GAME TWO)
The Blazers took the momentum from the opener into the nightcap, plating four runs in the first two innings.  Things got started in the bottom of the first as Harper reached on a fielder's choice plating Adams for a 1-0 lead and an error plated the second run.  In the second inning, Gonzalez doubled down the right field line for an RBI and an RBI single from Gates made the score 4-0.  
 
The Choctaws scratched across a run in the top of the fourth off senior starter Kevin Tomas, who went six innings, allowing eight hits, three runs – two earned, walked none and fanned five to improve to 2-0 on the year.
 
In the top of the fifth, MC scored one run for a 4-2 score, but Gates singled to right plating a run in the bottom of the inning for a 5-2 lead and a groundout to the pitcher scored the sixth run later in the inning.  The Choctaws pulled within 6-3 in the top of the sixth, but Gonzalez continued his strong day with an RBI single to left center in the bottom of the sixth for the 7-3 final ledger.  
 
Gates was 4 for 4 with two RBI to earn Guardian Bank Blazer Player of the Game honors, while Gonzalez was 3 for 4 with three runs scored, a double and two RBI.