VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 23 Valdosta State baseball team continues an eight-game home stand with No. 2 Tampa visiting on Apr. 4 at 5 p.m., at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page.  Tuesday's game will be broadcast on TALK 92.1 WDDQ FM and talk921.com with Bill Malone having the call.
 
The Blazers enter the week with a 20-9 record overall and a 12-6 mark in Gulf South Conference play.  VSU sits one game back of league leaders Montevallo and West Georgia in league play (13-5). West Florida, Alabama Huntsville and Delta State sit two games back of VSU at 10-8 in league play.
 
VSU rallied following a disappointing 13-5 loss to Lee on Saturday, as it responded with a dominating doubleheader sweep on Sunday, defeating the Flames 17-3 in the opener and 5-1 in the nightcap. For the twin bill, graduate student Jakob Sessa was 3 for 5 with three runs scored, a double and a home run, while driving in three.  Graduate student Nick Gonzalez finished 4 for 7 with two runs scored, and one RBI.  Senior Bryson Gandy was 3 for 6 with three runs scored, one home run and six RBI.  VSU hit .385 for the day with 22 runs scored on 20 hits, two doubles, three home runs and 20 RBI.  The staff held Lee to a .224 average, after the Flames put up 17 hits in the opener Frida evening.  Lee had 11 hits in 49 at bats Saturday, scoring four runs with one home run and four RBI.  Sessa finished the series 6 of 10 from the dish with four runs scored, one double, one home run and three RBI to lead the team.  The Blazers hit .341 for the series, scoring 27 runs with 30 hits, four doubles, three home runs and 25 RBI.   On the mound, senior Kevin Tomas went six innings of scoreless baseball in the opener on Sunday, allowing two hits, walking two and fanning nine.  In the nightcap Sunday, senior Zach Henderson tossed a complete game, allowing six hits, one earned run, walked two and fanned three.
 
The Spartans, ranked No. 2 in last week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Top 25 and fifth in Monday's Collegiate Baseball Top 25, while VSU is 27^th in the newest Collegiate Baseball Top 25 and 23^rd in last week's NCBWA Top 25.  Tampa is coming off its first losing series of the season, dropping two-of-three at home to No. 7 Rollins last weekend.
 
For Tampa this season, the team is hitting .325 for the season with a 24-6 record overall and a 13-2 mark in the Sunshine State Conference.  The Spartans have scored 231 runs with 339 hits, 72 doubles, five triples, 26 home runs and 213 RBI.  Tampa is 53 of 68 in stolen bases, while drawing 147 free passes.  The staff boasts a 3.23 ERA in 275.2 innings of work as teams are hitting .236 against it.  The team has allowed 240 hits, 113 runs – 99 earned, walked 94 and fanned 264. 
 
Individually, E.J. Cumbo leads the team with a .397 average as he is 48 of 121 from the dish with 28 runs scored for second on the team, ten doubles, one triple, four home runs and 24 RBI.  J.D. Erso is second in average at a .377 clip on 46 of 122 from the plate.  He has scored 22 runs with 17 doubles to lead the team, one triple and two home runs, while driving in a team-high 39. Jordan Lala is hitting .398 for the season with 43 hits, 38 runs scored to lead the team, four doubles, one triple, one home run and 24 RBI.  He is 23 of 27 in stolen bases to lead the team.  On the bump, Michael Paul leads the team in innings pitched at 45.2 as he has a team-high 44 strikeouts in nine starts.  Braydon Nelson is 4-0 with a 3.58 ERA in 11 relief appearances and two saves, while Eli Thurmond is 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA in nine starts and 45.1 innings.  
 
VSU downed Tampa 6-3 in a thriller in Tampa on Mar. 14.  In that game, UT broke a 0-0 tie in the seventh as Urso reached on an error and two runs scored unearned.  VSU used a six-run eighth inning, beginning with an RBI single from graduate student J.P. Gates, along with a sacrifice bunt and error.  With the bases loaded, Sessa tripled down the right field line plating three runs and Gandy hit an RBI single for a 6-2 lead.  Tampa scored one in the eighth, but freshman Anthony Martens came up with a save for junior Zane Stephens who earned the win in relief.  
 
Tampa leads the all-time series 34-23, but the Blazers have won five of the last seven in the series.  Tampa has not played in Valdosta since 7-6 VSU victory on Mar. 23, 2016. 
 
The Blazers continue at home this weekend as they will host West Alabama for a three-game series, beginning Friday at 5 p.m., followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m.  Friday's game will be broadcast on 94.3 WJEM FM and foxsportsvaldosta.com, while Saturday's games will be on TALK 92.1 WDDQ FM and talk921.com.  Both days Bill Malone will have the call.