VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 17 Valdosta State baseball team returns home to host No. 15 West Florida in a key Gulf South Conference series to conclude the home slate.  The series is set for a single game Friday at 5 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park, followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming of the series at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  The series also will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM and www.talk921.com with Bill Malone having the call.
 
VSU enters with a 30-12 record overall and a 18-9 record in the GSC.  The Blazers and Alabama Huntsville sit one game back of league leaders Montevallo and West Florida (19-8) with three games to play.  VSU would need to win the series with UWF and have some help to win a share or outright regular season conference title.   VSU already has clinched a berth in the GSC postseason championship for its 23^rd appearance in the tournament, scheduled for May 5-9 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.
 
UWF enters tied atop the league standings with Montevallo with a 19-8 record in the GSC and a 29-14 mark overall.  The Argos are one of the hottest teams in the country right now as they have won 13-straight games, dating back to a 4-3 loss to Montevallo on March 31.  UWF's 13-game streak is the third-longest currently in NCAA Division II, while VSU's six-game streak is tied for 17^th-longest. 
 
The Blazers and Argos were both among teams under consideration in the first NCAA Region rankings, released Wednesday by the NCAA.  Alabama Huntsville, Barry, Florida Southern, Florida Tech, Montevallo, Rollins, Tampa, VSU, West Florida and West Georgia comprised the teams in the South Region.  There will be two more public rankings, prior to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Selection Show, scheduled for May 14 at 10 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
 
VSU posted a 4-1 victory at Eckerd College on Tuesday, after sweeping a series at Auburn Montgomery last weekend.  The Blazers tallied eight hits against the Tritons on Tuesday, but all were singles.  Sophomore Trent Lewis was 1 for 3 in the game with two RBI as his RBI single in the sixth broke a 1-1 score.  Junior Zach Dodson (1-1) took the win in five innings, allowing three hits, one earned run, walked two and fanned four.  Senior Brandon Raiden earned his first save of the season. 
 
Saturday at approximately 12:40 p.m., the Blazers will honor 11 seniors playing their last regular season doubleheader at Billy Grant Field.  This senior class includes; Jeremy Adams, Orlando Adams, Jose Crisostomo-Bock, Bryson Gandy, Nick Gonzalez, Zach Henderson, Ralph Morla, Jr., Brandon Raiden, Jakob Sessa, Tyler Spitzbarth and Kevin Tomas.  Best of luck to each of these 11 student-athletes in their future endeavors!
 
The Argos are fifth nationally in ERA at a 3.37 clip to lead the GSC, while the team is sixth nationally in fielding percentage at a .978 clip.  The pitching staff is allowing just 7.78 hits per nine innings for ninth nationally, while UWF also is ninth nationally in shutouts with six to lead the league.  UWF is third nationally in WHIP at a 1.22 clip, while it is second in the GSC in strikeout-to-walk ratio at a 2.16 average.  The Argos have turned 35 double plays for 24^thnationally and second in the league.  Offensively, the team reaches base at a .418 clip for 40^th nationally and third in the GSC, while it leads the league in sacrifice bunts with 33 for 21^st nationally.  
 
Individually, the Argos have the top two pitchers in the GSC in ERA at Kade Manderscheid leads the league at a 1.84 clip for eighth nationally, while Dalton Neuschwander is second at 2.06 for 14^th nationally.  Neuschwander, the reigning GSC Pitcher of the Week, leads the GSC in hits allowed per nine innings at a 6.06 clip for 15^th nationally. Chase Wilkerson leads the team in saves with seven for 13^th nationally and tops in the league.  Manderschied leads the GSC in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 6.25 to lead the league.  Neuschwander is 14^th nationally in victories (8) for second in the league, while he is 15^th nationally in WHIP (0.95), while Manderscheid is second in the GSC and 23^rdnationally in WHIP at 1.00.  
 
Offensively, Darrien McDowell leads the team in average at a .382 clip with 60 hits, 41 runs scored, 13 doubles, nine home runs and 48 RBI.  Trent Jeffcoat leads the team going 15 of 16 in stolen bases and is second in average at a .329 clip.  He has 48 hits, 36 runs scored, seven doubles, three triples and 25 RBI.  Head coach Mike Jeffcoat is in his 18^thseason at the helm of the Argos and is 591-324 as head coach. 
 
UWF leads the series 31-24 since Apr. 29, 2006, but the Blazers have won the last two and three of four.  Prior to that, UWF had won six-straight all in Valdosta.  Last season, VSU won two of three in Pensacola and then won a 13-12 thriller in 11 innings in the conference tournament in 2022. 
 
The Blazers are led by graduate student JP Gates, who leads the team with a .388 batting average.  He has a team-high 64 hits, 42 runs scored, 13 doubles, six home runs and 31 RBI, while slugging .576 with ten walks, eight times hit by pitches and a .446 on base clip.  Graduate student Jakob Sessa is hitting .371 for the season with 43 hits, 24 runs scored, two doubles, four triples, three home runs and 22 RBI.  Senior Bryson Gandy leads the team in home runs with ten and has 40 hits, three doubles, two triples and 37 RBI, while scoring 35 runs. 
 
On the mound, senior Zach Henderson leads the team with a 2.73 ERA and a 6-0 record in 58 innings of work with four complete games, two shutouts and one save.  He has allowed 53 hits, 25 runs – 17 earned, walked 18 and fanned 35. Junior Zach Dodson is second in ERA at a 4.07 clip with 42 innings pitched, 11 walks and 26 strikeouts.  Senior Kevin Tomas is 5-3 with a 4.33 ERA in a team-high 60.1 innings pitched.  He has a team-best 44 strikeouts with just ten walks as teams are hitting .253 against him.  Gates is 5-0 with a 2.63 ERA in 37.2 innings as he has pitched in 12 games with one start. 
 
Nationally speaking, the Blazers are second in the GSC in ERA at a 4.48 clip for 42^nd nationally.  VSU is tops in the GSC in triples with 12, while the team is 34^th nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio at a 2.25 clip to lead the league. Individually, Gates is third in the league in hits per game at a 1.52 clip for 64^th nationally, while Sessa leads the GSC in triples (4) for 31^st nationally.  Junior Preston Joye leads the league in sacrifice bunts (7) for 36^th nationally, while Henderson's 2.73 ERA is good for fourth in the league and Tomas is third in the GSC in walks allowed per nine innings at a 1.49 clip for 26^th nationally.  Head coach Greg Guilliams is in his 16^th season at Valdosta State and is 470-295 (.614) as the helm, while he is in his 33^rd season of coaching with a 1147-552-2 (.675) record overall. He has won 30 or more games eight times, including this season, at VSU and back-to-back 30+ win seasons for the first time since winning 40+ games in 2009 and 2010.  
 
Following this weekend's series, the Blazers are scheduled for a makeup game on Monday, May 1 at 5 p.m. at Georgia College, before heading to Oxford, Ala., later in the week for the conference tournament.