VALDOSTA, Ga. – Fresh off a 6-2 road trip, the Valdosta State baseball team returns home to host Georgia College in a midweek game on Tuesday, Mar. 7 at 5 p.m., at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park and West Georgia this upcoming weekend for the Red Clay Rivalry Series.
 
The Blazers enter the week with a 13-5 record overall and a 6-3 mark in the Gulf South Conference.  Georgia College enters at 4-11 overall and 3-3 in the Peach Belt Conference.  West Georgia enters the week with a 13-3 record overall and a 7-2 mark in the GSC.  The Wolves are scheduled to play Tuskegee on Tuesday, before heading to Titletown for a Friday, Mar. 10 game at 5 p.m., and a doubleheader Saturday, Mar. 11 beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the games at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  The games also will be broadcast on 94.3 WJEM FM and foxsportsvaldosta.com with Bill Malone having the call.  
 
VSU went 3-1 last week with a 9-2 win at Georgia Southwestern on Tuesday for its 13^th-straight midweek victory dating back to a 3-2 victory over Georgia Southwestern on Mar. 23, 2021.  The Blazers then won the series at Shorter, taking two of three games over the weekend.  VSU hit .266 for the week on 37 of 139 from the plate, while scoring 26 runs with six doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 24 RBI.  The team slugged .511 and reached base at a .342 clip with 13 walks and four hit batsmen.  VSU had just four errors for the week leading to three unearned runs.  
 
Individually, graduate student Nick Gonzalez hit .375 on 6 of 16 from the field, while he scored two runs with one home run and three RBI.  Graduate student JP Gates hit .353 with six hits, five runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and four RBI as he led the team with an .824 slugging percentage. 
 
On the bump, VSU had a 1.78 ERA in 35.1 innings of work.  The team had one shutout and one complete game, while allowing 23 hits, 10 runs – seven earned, walked 13 and fanned 26 as the opposition hit just .183 against it.  Senior Zach Henderson pitched a three-hit, complete game shutout against Shorter Sunday in an 8-0 win to clinch the series.  Along with allowing the three hits, Henderson fanned four.  Gates earned a win in relief on the mound in 5.2 innings, while freshman Anthony Martens went 1-1 in three innings of work.  Senior Kevin Tomas went a team-best 7.1 innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs, walked two and fanned three with a no decision.  
 
The Bobcats won the finale at Young Harris on Sunday, 7-2, to avoid a sweep and snapped a four-game skid.  GC scored in five different innings in the game as Trey Ham went 3 for 3 with two runs scored, a double and one RBI to lead the team.  Starter Luc Scudellari went seven innings, allowing five hits, two runs – one earned, walked three and fanned seven.  
 
For the year, the Bobcats are hitting .234 with 122 hits, 51 runs scored, one triple, nine home runs and 50 RBI.  The team is slugging .318 and reaching base at a .292 clip.  Ben Tuten leads the team with 23 hits, 10 runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI as he is hitting .371 for the season.  On the mound, the Bobcats have pitched 133.2 innings, allowing 141 hits, 90 runs – 68 earned, walked 56 and fanned 135 as teams are hitting .269 against it.  Scudellari leads the team in innings pitched at 20.1, while Josh Hudgins is second at 17 innings pitched with 22 strikeouts and two walks.   Head coach Nolan Belcher is 57-48 in his third season at GC. 
 
VSU leads the all-time series 34-25 and has won the last two in the series, including a 4-3 victory on Apr. 12, 2023.  That marked the first time the teams had played since VSU won 6-4 in Valdosta on Feb. 17, 2016.  The game scheduled for Milledgeville, Ga., last season was cancelled due to rain.
 
West Georgia has been one of the hottest teams in the region as of late as the Wolves are second in the GSC standings with a 7-2 record and have won five-straight games after a sweep of Union this past weekend and a 14-1 victory over Georgia College.  UWG outscored Union 17-6 over the three-game set in Carrollton, Ga., last weekend.  The Wolves are 13-3 overall and were picked ninth in the GSC Preseason Coaches poll. 
 
This season, the Wolves are hitting .326 for the season on 167 of 512 from the plate.  UWG has scored 138 runs with 35 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs and 126 RBI.  The team is slugging .508 and reaching base at a .444 clip, while going 30 of 38 on the base paths.  Henry Daniels leads the team with a .424 average on 25 of 59 from the plate, while Logan Fink is second in average at a .417 clip on 25 of 60 from the plate.  Both have scored 18 runs, while Fink leads the team with nine doubles and both have three home runs.  Fink has driven in a team-high 25, while Anthony Calabro, who is third in average at a .404 clip, leads the team with 28 runs scored and seven home runs.  
 
On the mound, the Wolves boast a 3.65 ERA in 133 innings with two shutouts and three saves.  The team has allowed 119 hits, 67 runs – 54 earned, walked 62 and fanned 122.  Teams are hitting .242 against it.  Chase Townsend is 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA in a team-high 19.2 innings of work in five starts.  He has fanned a team-high 23 and walked 12.  Jonathan Hickman is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in 12.2 innings and is second on the team in strikeouts with 14, while teams are hitting .128 against him.  Head coach Jeff Smith is in his fourth season at the helm of the program and is 68-53.  
 
VSU has won 19 of the past 35 games in the series, but UWG won two of three against the Blazers last season in Carrollton.  Prior to that, VSU had won seven-straight in the series.  During the last 35 matchups, the Blazers are 13-4 in Valdosta and have won five-straight at home. 
 
In the Second Annual Red Clay Rivalry Series between VSU and UWG, the Wolves own a 4.5 to 2.5 lead this season after VSU won 7-4 in 2021-22.  To clinch the point, a team will need to win two of three in the series this weekend. 
 
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) South Region rankings were released Monday and the Blazers are fourth in the region, while West Georgia is third.  Tampa leads the rankings with seven of ten first place votes, while Montevallo is second with three, first-place nods.  
 
Under the direction of 16^th year head coach Greg Guilliams, who is 453-288-1 (.611) at VSU, while he is in his 33^rd year of coaching overall with a 1130-545-2 (.674) record, the Blazers are hitting .269 this season on 157 of 583 from the plate.  The team has scored 113 runs with 28 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs and driven in 98.  VSU is slugging .405 and reaching base at a .355 clip with 54 walks and 27 hit batsmen.  VSU is 20 of 31 in stolen bases this season.  
 
On the mound, the Blazers carry a 3.46 ERA into the week with two complete games, two shutouts and two saves in 153.1 innings pitched.  The staff has allowed 144 hits, 76 runs – 59 earned, walked 63 and fanned 124 as teams are hitting .242 against it. Henderson leads the team with a 0.69 ERA in 26 innings of work and a 3-0 record.  He has allowed 15 hits, three runs – two earned, walked 11 and fanned 20.  He has two complete games and two shutouts.  Freshman Anthony Martens is 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings of work.  Sophomore Zach Dodson has a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings of work, while senior Kevin Tomas has a 2-1 record with a 3.45 ERA in 31.1 innings of work.