HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The No. 19/22 Valdosta State baseball team battled back for a doubleheader split at Alabama Huntsville Saturday. UAH won the opener 4-3 to win the series, while VSU came back and won the nightcap, 15-14. 
 
VSU had its chances to win the series Saturday as it jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first game of the day.  The Blazers began the day with a single up the middle from junior David Crawford as he stole second and moved to third on an error.  Graduate student Nick Gonzalez grounded out, plating Crawford for a 1-0 lead. 

The Blazers left two on in the second and then in the third, graduate student JP Gates doubled to left and scored on a throwing error for a 2-0 lead.  UAH scored four runs on four hits in the bottom of the fourth for a 4-2 lead.  VSU pulled within 4-3 in the top of the fifth as Crawford began the inning with a single to center, followed by a Gonzalez double and a Gates sacrifice fly.    VSU left two on in the sixth, left the bases loaded in the eighth and one on in the ninth as it was unable to get the equalizer as it left 11 stranded in the game.
 
Crawford finished the game 2 for 5 with two runs scored to lead the team earning Guardian Bank Blazer Player of the Game honors.  Graduate student Jakob Sessa was 3 for 5 in the game, while sophomore Hunter Stowe was 2 for 3.  Senior starter Kevin Tomas (4-3) took the loss in five innings, allowing six hits, four earned runs, walked one and fanned one. 
 
In the nightcap, UAH's Colin Brewer blasted a grand slam for a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first.  VSU came back and cut the deficit in half in the third as Gates doubled to left center, plating Crawford and sophomore Jovanni Canegitta singled to right scoring Gates. 
 
The Chargers then added four more runs in the third for an 8-2 lead, but the Blazers never gave up and continued to chip away and posted seven runs in the top of the fourth for a 9-8 lead.  Sophomore Trent Lewis got things started with an RBI single to right center, followed by a Crawford RBI single up the middle and the frame was highlighted by a three-run home run from Sessa for the 9-8 lead.
 
VSU then added four more runs in the fifth as three errors in the frame plagued the Chargers.  Canegitta hit a two RBI single for the 13-8 lead.  The teams each scored a run in the bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth for a 14-9 VSU lead.  The Chargers erased the deficit in the bottom of the sixth with five runs as senior Brandon Raiden relieved junior Nick Ferrara and got two outs as UAH left the bags full. 
 
Gandy hit an infield single to second base with the bases loaded in the seventh for a 15-14 score.  Raiden retired the Chargers in order in the bottom of the seventh for the win.  VSU finished with 15 runs on 15 hits, while UAH had 14 runs on 16 hits and three errors led to four unearned runs. 
 
Raiden (3-1) took the win in 1.2 innings, walking one and fanning two for the Blazers earning Guardian Bank Blazer Player of the Game honors.  Offensively, Gates was 3 for 4 with four runs scored, a double and two RBI, while Sessa was 1 for 4 with a run scored, three RBI and a home run. UAH finished the series at 24-17 and 15-9 in GSC play.
 
VSU (25-12, 15-9 GSC) returns home to host Saint Leo on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park, before returning to the road next weekend in a three-game series at Auburn Montgomery.