VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 19/22 Valdosta State baseball team hosts Saint Leo in a key regional contest Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.  The Blazers then travel to Auburn Montgomery this weekend for an important Gulf South Conference series beginning Friday at 7 p.m. ET, followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.  
 
The Blazers enter Tuesday's contest with a 25-12 record overall and 15-9 in Gulf South Conference play, while Saint Leo is 22-15 overall and 10-8 in Sunshine State Conference play. VSU won the meeting earlier this season at Saint Leo, 7-2 on Feb. 21. 
 
In that game, VSU plated three runs in the third and then outscored SLU 4-1 over the final three frames for the victory.  Graduate student JP Gates went 4 for 5 with two runs scored, one home run and two RBI, while graduate student Jakob Sessa was 2 for 5 with a double and a triple and a run scored.  Sophomore Jovanni Canegitta went 3 for 5 with a run scored and two RBI.  Senior Zach Henderson earned the win in relief, going 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, one earned run and he fanned one.  VSU recorded seven runs on 11 hits with one error, while Saint Leo had two runs on eight hits and three errors leading to two unearned runs.  SLU starter Kaelan Racculia took the loss in 2.2 innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs in 15 batters faced.
 
With the win, VSU improved to 15-7 all-time against SLU and now has won five-straight and six of seven.  SLU's lone win during the stretch came in a 6-5 victory at SLU on Feb. 19, 2019, in ten innings.  VSU has won seven of nine in Valdosta against the Lions in a series dating back to Feb. 13, 2007.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the game Tuesday at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  The game also will be broadcast on TALK 92.1 WDDQ FM and www.talk921.com with Bill Malone having the call.
 
VSU dropped two of three at Alabama Huntsville over the weekend as it fell into a tie with UAH for third place in the league standings as Montevallo and West Florida lead the way at 16-8.  VSU and UAH are 15-9 in league play, while West Georgia sits a game back of the Blazers and Chargers at 14-10.  UWF might be the hottest team in the league right now as it has won nine-straight games to move into a tie for the top spot.  
 
Against UAH, VSU hit .343 for the series on 37 of 108 from the dish as it scored 23 runs with four doubles, four home runs and 20 RBI.  UAH countered hitting .404 on 42 of 104 from the plate, 33 runs scored, ten doubles, one triple and one home run while driving in 30.  Sessa was 6 if 13 from the dish with one run scored, home run home run and four RBI to lead the team.  Canegitta, Gates and junior David Crawford each had five hits.  VSU struggled on the mound against the Chargers allowing the 42 hits and 33 runs with 31 earned runs.  Senior Brandon Raiden earned the win in the finale, going 1.2 innings, walking one and fanning two in the 15-14 victory.  
 
Saint Leo enters after taking two of three from Lynn over the weekend at home.  The Lions won 22-8 in the opener and closed the series with a 7-5 victory in the rubber-match finale on Saturday.  This season, the Lions are hitting .315 with 411 hits in 1304 at bats, while scoring 294 runs with 62 doubles, ten triples, 21 home runs and 255 RBI.  The team is slugging .426 and reaching base at a .404 clip with 168 walks and bee hit by pitches 50 times.   Individually, Zach Benson leads the team in average at a .426 clip with 43 hits, 35 runs scored, seven doubles, four triples and two home runs, while driving in 23.  Mikey Scott is hitting .402 with a team-high 53 hits, 33 runs scored, ten doubles, three triples and 17 RBI.  Scott is 17 of 18 in stolen bases.  Eddie Niemann III is third in average at a .380 clip with 35 hits, 25 runs scored, two doubles and a team-high seven home runs, while driving in a team-best 32.  
 
On the mound, the Lions boast a 4.91 ERA in 328 innings of work.  The team has allowed 361 hits, 211 runs – 179 earned, walked 108 and fanned 278 as teams are hitting .273 against it.   Daniel Freglio leads the team with a 7-2 record in ten starts for 59.2 innings.  He has allowed 64 hits, 34 runs – 29 earned, walked 15 and fanned a team-high 57.  Nick Jennings has 13 appearances on the year, while Drew Rudsinski has 14 appearances to lead the team.  
 
The Blazers will need to sweep the Warhawks this weekend to keep control of their own path to a regular season conference title.  AUM is 17-25 overall and 10-14 in GSC play as the Warhawks were swept over the weekend at West Florida.  AUM is scheduled to play at Tuskegee on Tuesday, before entertaining the Blazers this weekend.  Entering the week, the Warhawks have dropped six of seven, including three to Saint Leo Apr. 6-7.  AUM's lone win during the streak came in a 13-3 victory over Albany State last Wednesday. 
 
The Warhawks are hitting .286 for the season in 42 games with 396 hits, 267 runs scored, 62 doubles, two triples, 19 home runs and 246 RBI.  The team is 33 of 40 in stolen bases and is slugging .374.  Kasey Clark leads the team in average at a .364 clip with 60 hits, 30 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 43 RBI.  He is slugging .564 with 12 walks, three hit batsmen and a .412 on base average.  Cooper Doughman is second in average at a .340 clip with 49 hits, 19 runs scored, seven doubles, three home runs and 35 RBI.  Brody Syer leads the team with six home runs this season.
 
On the bump, the Warhawks have a 5.38 ERA in 344.2 innings of work, allowing 385 hits, 251 runs – 206 earned, walked 154 and fanned 249 as teams are hitting .283 against them.  Clay Slagle has a 5.02 ERA in 57.1 innings of work, allowing 53 hits, 33 runs – 32 earned, walked 20 and fanned 34 as teams are hitting .244 against him.  Andrew Cronan is second in innings pitched with 52.0 as he has allowed 68 hits, 42 runs – 35 earned, walked 16 and fanned 30 for a 6.06 ERA. 
 
This season, the Blazers enter hitting .283 for the season with 258 runs, 340 hits, 53 doubles, 11 triples and 30 home runs, while driving in 225.  The team is slugging .420 and reaching base at a .385 clip with 156 walks and 54 hit batsmen.  VSU is 68 of 90 in stolen bases this season.  Gates leads the team hitting .396 on 57 of 144 from the dish with 37 runs scored, 12 doubles, four home runs and 28 RBI.  He is slugging .583 with eight walks and been hit eight times for a .453 on base average.  Sessa is second in average at a .385 clip on 40 of 104 from the plate.  He has two doubles, a team-high four triples, three home runs and 20 RBI.  Gandy leads the team with eight home runs on the year.  
 
The staff has a 4.63 ERA in 312.2 innings of work, allowing 345 hits, 199 runs – 161 earned, walked 109 and struck out 245.  Teams are hitting .276 against VSU this season.  Henderson leads the team with a 2.39 ERA and 5-0 record in 49 innings of work.  He has allowed 45 hits, 20 runs – 13 earned, walked 16 and fanned 33.  Senior Kevin Tomas is 4-3 with a 4.07 ERA in a team-high 55.1 innings.  He has 39 strikeouts to lead the team and just nine free passes.  
 
Following this week, the Blazers have a road game next Tuesday at Eckerd, before returning home to host West Florida for Senior Weekend, Apr. 28-29 at Tommy Thomas Park.  The Blazers then will close the regular season at Georgia College on May 1.