VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State baseball team returned to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 for the first time since May 11, 2022, at No. 24 this week.  The Blazers travel to Delta State for a three-game, Gulf South Conference series this weekend.
 
The Blazers and the Statesmen are set for a 6 p.m. ET game on Friday, Feb. 24, followed by a doubleheader scheduled for 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 25.  Fans can access links to live stats and streaming of the series at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.
 
VSU is in the midst of an eight-game road trip, which began Tuesday evening with a 7-2 victory at Saint Leo.  Following the series at DSU, VSU is scheduled for a midweek game on Feb. 28 at Georgia Southwestern and then a three-game series at Shorter, Mar. 3-4.  VSU returns to Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park for a 5 p.m. first pitch against Georgia College on Mar. 7.  
 
The Blazers jumped out to a 3-0 lead at Saint Leo, courtesy of three runs in the third inning on a pair of RBI singles from graduate students JP Gates and Jovanni Canegitta.  Gates had a game to remember as he went 4 of 5 from the dish with two runs scored, two RBI and a home run to lead the team.  SLU pulled within 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth, but a home run by Gates and a sacrifice fly in the ninth pushed the lead to five.  Gates also pitched in the game, while senior Zach Henderson earned the win in relief, going 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run, walked none and fanned one.  Last weekend, the Blazers opened the Gulf South Conference slate with a 2-1 series victory over Mississippi College.  
 
Heading into the weekend, the Blazers are one of four teams from the South Region ranked in the newest NCBWA Top 25, while they are one of three teams from the GSC.  Tampa leads the teams from the region at fourth, while Montevallo is 10^th and West Florida is 17^th.  Palm Beach Atlantic is among others receiving votes.  The Blazers are fourth this week in the NCBWA South Region Poll.  Tampa leads the poll, followed by Montevallo, West Florida and Palm Beach Atlantic is fifth.  West Georgia sits sixth, followed by Barry, Rollins, Spring Hill and Eckerd.  Embry-Riddle, Lynn, Albany State, Lee, Savannah State, Edward Waters and Morehouse all are receiving votes.
 
The Statesmen enter with a 4-5 record as this is DSU's conference opener.  Delta State is coming off a 1-2 weekend at Eckerd as it lost the first two games by one run apiece, while winning the finale 6-2.  The Statesmen were picked to win the GSC with five of the 13 first-place votes and 130 total points.  VSU was picked fourth in the preseason league poll.   DSU had two players named to the Preseason All-GSC Team in shortstop Carson Clowers and pitcher Harrison Haley.  This season, however, Kirkland Traham leads the team with a .400 average on 14 of 35 from the dish, while he has six runs scored, three doubles, two home runs and seven RBI.  Brett Burrell is second in hits and average at a .387 clip, going 12 for 31 with six runs scored, three doubles and five RBI.  The team is hitting .241 for the season with 68 hits, 41 runs scored, 15 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 34 RBI.  
 
DSU boasts a 3.19 ERA in 73.1 innings of work as teams are hitting .269 against it.  The Statesmen have allowed 76 hits, 36 runs – 26 earned, walked 29 and fanned 76.  Kameron Koch leads the team in innings pitched with 14 and carries a 3.21 ERA allowing 14 hits, seven runs – five earned, walked five and fanned 12.  Hammer Franks has a team-best 1.64 ERA in 11 innings of work, allowing nine hits, two earned runs, walked three and fanned a team-high 13. 
 
The Statesmen lead the all-time series with VSU 33-22 and have won 12-straight in the series with VSU's last victory coming on Apr. 24, 2017, in Cleveland, Miss.  The teams have not met since a 12-2 DSU victory in the GSC Tournament on May 7, 2021.  DSU head coach Rodney Batts is in his fourth year at the helm of the Statesmen. He is 77-52. 
 
VSU is led by Gates this season who is hitting .432 on the year on 19 of 44 from the dish.  He has scored nine runs for third on the team, while recording a team-high four doubles, one home run and a team-high 14 RBI.  Gates is slugging .591 for the season and reaching base at a .468 clip.  Graduate student Jakob Sessa is second in average at a .361 clip on 13 of 36 from the plate.  He has scored four runs with one double, one triple and two RBI.  Canegitta is third in average at .333 on 9 of 27 from the plate with three doubles and three RBI.  Junior Jacob Harper is fourth in average at a .321 clip with nine RBI for third on the team.  Gates has had at least one hit in each of the last seven games and has reached base safely in each of the last seven games to lead the team.  He also has a team-high six multi-hit games with a season-high four hits twice.  
 
The Blazers are hitting .281 for the season on 99 of 352 from the plate, while they have scored 72 runs with 18 doubles, three triples, four home runs and 61 RBI.  The Blazers are slugging .384 for the season and have drawn 32 walks with 31 hit batsmen for a .371 on base clip.  VSU is 18 of 26 in stolen bases for the season.  Conversely, teams are hitting .258 against VSU with 98 hits in 380 at bats, while scoring 58 runs with 18 doubles, one triple, six home runs and 51 RBI.  The opposition has walked 44 times and been hit 14 times for a .355 on base average, along with a .358 slugging percentage.  The opponents are 11 of 14 in stolen bases. 
 
On the mound, the Blazers have a 4.21 ERA in 94 innings, allowing 98 hits, 58 runs – 44 earned, walked 44 and fanned 83.  Senior Kevin Tomas is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in a team-high 18.2 innings.  He has allowed 17 hits, six runs – four earned, walked one and fanned 13.  Freshman Anthony Martens is 3-0 in five relief appearances with a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings, while senior Zach Henderson is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings with 12 strikeouts.  Redshirt sophomore Zach Dodson leads the team with a 1.46 ERA in 12.1 innings of work with 12 strikeouts and two walks.  
 
Head coach Greg Guilliams is in his 16^th season at VSU as he is 448-286-1 (.610).  Guilliams is in his 33^rd year of coaching overall with a 1125-543-2 (.674) record.