SAINT LEO, Fla.- The Valdosta State baseball team posted a 7-2 victory at the Saint Leo Lions Tuesday evening in a key regional contest. With the win, VSU improved to 8-3 on the year, while Saint Leo fell to 4-5. The teams will meet again in Valdosta on Apr. 18.
In the game Tuesday, the Blazers recorded seven runs on 11 hits with one error, while SLU had two runs on eight hits and three errors. Blazer graduate student
JP Gates was named Guardian Bank Blazer Player of the Game as he went 4 for 5 with two runs scored, two RBI and a home run. He also pitched 1.1 innings in relief, allowing one hit, one unearned run, walked one and fanned two. Sophomore
Jovanni Canegitta went 3 for 5 with a run scored and two RBI, while graduate student
Jakob Sessa was 2 for 5 with a run scored, a double and a triple.
Junior
David Crawford set the tone in the third with a one out single, followed by a single from graduate student
Nick Gonzalez. Gates singled Crawford home and later in the inning Canegitta singled home two runs for a 3-0 lead.
The Lions wouldn't go down without a fight as they scratched a run across in the sixth on an RBI double down the left field line with two away. The momentum was short lived, however, as a throwing error plated a run for the Blazers in the seventh and then the red and black added another run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from sophomore
Trent Lewis, plating Canegitta.
SLU used another RBI double in the bottom of the eighth for a 5-2 score, but the Blazer bats remained hot in the ninth with Gates' solo shot to right center for his first dinger of his Blazer career and a sacrifice fly from junior
Preston Joye for a 7-2 score.
Blazer senior hurler
Zach Henderson (1-0) earned the win in relief of senior starter
Brandon Raiden as Henderson went 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run and fanned one.
The Blazers continue their eight-game road trip with a key Gulf South Conference series Friday and Saturday at Delta State. The series is set to begin with a 6 p.m. ET first pitch Friday evening, followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
