VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State baseball graduate student JP Gates was honored as the Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Week and earned National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) South Region Pitcher of the Week accolades.
 
Gates, a native of Brookfield, Fla., continued his outstanding season for the Blazers as she went 1-0 in two relief appearances last week with a 1.12 ERA.  He pitched a team-high eight innings, allowing six hits, two runs (one earned) walked two and fanned a team-high 11 as opponents hit .222 against him.  The lefty opened the week by tossing two innings against No. 2 Tampa in a thrilling 15-14, 11-inning victory.  He then pitched a six-inning relief effort against West Alabama, striking out 10 of21 batters faced, while surrendering just one unearned run on two hits as he improved to 4-0 on the year. 
 
This is the first weekly honor of the season for Gates for GSC Player of the Week and the same for NCBWA Region POW.  It also marked the first weekly honor of the season in both for the Blazers.  Gates will move onto the national ballot for NCBWA Pitcher of the Week.  Gates marks VSU's first regional winner since former Blazer Zach Blankenship earned the honor on Feb. 21, 2021 and is the sixth different Blazer since 2011 to earn the honor.  
 
Gates and the Blazers head to Alabama Huntsville for a key GSC series this weekend.  The series is scheduled to begin Friday at 4 p.m. ET with a single game, followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.