VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 5-seed Valdosta State baseball team opens the NCAA South Regional Thursday at 5 p.m. versus No. 4-seed Rollins College at the University of Tampa.  The Blazers enter with a 33-18 record on the season, while Rollins is 34-16. 
 
Fans can access links to live stats, streaming, ticket information and more by clicking here for the NCAA South Regional Championship central webpage.  
 
VSU earned its second-straight berth into the NCAA postseason and back-to-back appearances for the first time since 2009-2010.  VSU won its first three games of the Gulf South Conference Championship and fell 10-8 in ten innings to West Florida in the final game last Tuesday. 
 
The Tars dropped their last three games of the regular season this past weekend at Embry-Riddle as the Sunshine State Conference does not have a conference tournament.  Top-seeded Tampa (40-9) who won the Sunshine State Conference title with a 26-4 record, will battle No. 8-seed Spring Hill College (32-21) who won three-straight Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) titles.  VSU defeated Tampa twice this season, winning in Tampa (6-3) on Mar. 14 and then won in Valdosta in an 11-inning thriller, 15-14 on Apr. 4. 
 
In the other "pod" No. 2-seed West Florida (37-15) earned hosting duties in the second pod of the regional as the Argos will battle Florida Southern (32-18) in Pensacola, Fla., while No. 3-seed Montevallo (38-14) tangles with No. 6-seed Barry (32-17).  Both pods are double-elimination.
 
The winners of the two "pods" will meet in a Super Regional, scheduled for May 26-27, at the highest remaining seed as the winner will advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship, scheduled for June 3-10 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.
 
The Blazers are making their 23^rd appearance in the NCAA postseason as the team is 53-48 all-time with one championship in 1979, two third place finishes and three fourth place honors.  VSU went 1-2 in the regional last season as a No. 4-seed, losing to Nova Southeastern, defeating Spring Hill College and losing to host Tampa. This is the eighth time VSU has qualified for the NCAA postseason since 2000. 
 
For the field this season, the regional field as a whole has combined for 19 national titles, six runner-up finishes, eight third-place finishes and four fourth-place nods in 129 total appearances in the NCAA postseason.  The field has a 416-255 record in the postseason. 
 
In South Regional #1, Tampa is making its 37^th appearance with a 138-66 record, eight national titles, two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes.  This is Spring Hill's third trip to the postseason (0-4), while Rollins is making its 15^th trip with a 32-30 record, along with one third-place finish.  VSU's 53 wins and 23^rd appearance is third-most in the entire regional with Florida Southern leading the way with its 43^rd appearance and a 153-80 record all-time.  VSU and West Florida each have one national title, while Florida Southern leads the way with nine and Tampa's eight.
 
VSU responded nicely with a run to the conference tournament title game after losing its final four games of the regular season.  The Blazers finished with five players earning GSC All-Tournament honors in junior David Crawford, sophomore Hunter Stowe, graduate student JP Gates, junior Jacob Harper and junior Zane Stephens.  
 
Crawford hit .409 for the tournament with nine hits in 22 at bats, nine runs scored, one home run and two RBI, while Stowe led the team in average at a .500 clip on 9 of 18 from the dish with eight runs scored and six RBI.  Gates finished hitting .462 with a team-high 12 hits, four runs scored, a team-high five doubles, one home run and eight RBI.  Harper went 7 of 18 from the plate with five runs scored, four doubles and seven RBI, while Stephens pitched in three games with two saves in 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, no runs and fanned one.  
 
As a team for the tournament, VSU hit .315 on 62 of 197 from the plate, while it scored 45 runs, 14 doubles, six home runs and 43 RBI.  VSU walked 29 times and was hit by pitches four times for a .409 on base average and slugged .477.  VSU was 11 of 11 in stolen bases and recorded a .980 fielding percentage with four errors leading to six unearned runs.  
 
The staff had a 6.20 ERA in 49.1 innings of work with two saves.  The team allowed 63 hits, 40 runs – 34 earned, walked 27 and fanned 33 as the opposition hit .310 against it.  Along with Stephens, graduate student Jeremy Adams earned a win in relief in two appearances for 5.2 innings, allowing one earned run, walked one and fanned three.  Junior Nick Ferrara went 1-0 in 5.2 innings for three appearances, allowing eight hits, seven earned runs, walked three and fanned three.  Senior Brandon Raiden also went 1-0 in relief in three appearances for 5.2 innings, allowing ten hits, five runs – four earned, walked three and fanned five.
 
VSU went 3-2 in the conference tournament propelling it into the regional with a thrilling 6-5 victory over West Georgia in 11 innings, while it upset top-seeded West Florida 9-6 with an eight-run, eighth inning and defeated Lee 13-9.  VSU then dropped heartbreakers to Delta State (10-9) in 11-Innings and then in the finale against West Florida as a miscue with two outs in the tenth prolonged the inning for the Argos as pinch-hitter Mark Townsend hit a two-run, home run to right center for the winning runs.  VSU held the lead early, before UWF answered with six runs in the top of the eighth and VSU matched in the bottom of the frame for an 8-8 score to that point.  
 
Speaking of eighth innings, VSU outscored the opposition 15-7 in the eighth inning in the tournament as neither it or the opposition had more than seven runs in any of the other innings alone.  More impressively, the 15 runs came in three games, the equalizing run against West Georgia, eight in the first game against West Florida and six in the championship game against the Argos.
 
VSU is 2-0 this season against Tampa as the only team in the South Region #1 the Blazers have played.  Against the Spartans this season, VSU is hitting .303 with 23 hits, 21 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, two home runs and 18 RBI.  The team is slugging .474 and reaching base at a .424 clip with 13 walks and three hit batsmen.  VSU went 7 of 8 in stolen bases and had four errors leading to five unearned runs.  
 
As a staff, the Blazers have a 5.40 ERA in 20 innings, allowing 26 hits, 17 runs – 12 earned, walked ten and fanned 20 as Tampa is hitting .313 against it.  Stephens is 1-0 in two appearances against Tampa, pitching four innings, allowing three hits, four runs – two earned, walked two and fanned four.  Sophomore Trent Lewis had both the game winning hit in the bottom of the 11^th and earned the win in the 15-14 victory on Apr. 4.  He pitched 1.0 innings, walking two and fanning two.  
 
The Blazers defeated Spring Hill College last season in an elimination game in the regional 9-5 ending the Badgers' season at 38-14.  In the game, VSU raced out to a 6-0 lead through 5½ innings before SHC scored four in the sixth. VSU then scored three more in the seventh and SHC added one in the bottom of the frame for the 9-5 score.  Current senior Orlando Adams went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, a triple and a walk, while Crawford was 2 for 3 with three runs scored and an RBI.  Former Blazer Mike Christopoulos went 5 for 5 with a run scored and four RBI.  Current senior Kevin Tomas earned the win, going six innings, allowing six hits, five earned runs, walked none and struck out two.
 
Since 2001, VSU and Rollins are tied 3-3 in the series.  The Blazers have won the last three in the series, including a sweep in 2020 in Valdosta.  VSU won the opener 10-6 on Feb. 28, 2020, 4-3 on Feb. 29 and 7-3 on Mar. 1, prior to the COVID-19 shutdown.  Rollins won in the only postseason game with an 8-4 victory on May 15, 2010, in Tampa, Fla., while Rollins won a pair of games in 2001 on Feb. 25 (14-9) and Feb. 2 (7-6).
 
The Tars enter at No. 11 in the newest Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 25 and were eighth in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25.  Rollins went 22-8 in SSC play this season finishing second in the league standings, four games back of Tampa and four games ahead of Saint Leo.  Florida Southern finished fourth in the league standings, followed by Barry as both jumped Saint Leo earning berths in the regional, while SLU did not.  
 
For the season, the Tars are ninth nationally in double plays with 46 for second in the SSC, while they are eighth nationally in fielding percentage at a .976 clip for second in the league.  Rollins is 34^th nationally and third in the league in hits (547), while it is second in the league and 35^th nationally in home runs (64).  The Tars are third in the league in on base percentage at a .401 clip, while they are third in the league in runs scored (382) and 44^th nationally for third in the league in slugging percentage at a .492 clip.  The Tars have four shutouts this season for 38^th nationally and second in the SSC, while they are third in the league in ERA (4.91) and fourth in WHIP (1.51). 
 
Individually, Parker Smith leads the SSC in slugging percentage at a .689 clip this season, while he is tenth nationally and tops in the league in home runs with 20.  Smith is second to teammate Jimmy Thies in hit batsmen in the SSC as Thies has been plunked 18 times and Smith 12 times.  Joey Rubin leads the team with 57 runs scored for second in the league, while Smith leads the team with 48 RBI for sixth in the league.  On the bump, Edward Berry boasts a 1.10 WHIP for 40^th nationally and second in the league, Nick Berger leads the team with a 3.18 ERA.  Head coach Jon Sjogren is in his 33^rd season of coaching with an 825-708-5 (.538) record, while he is 466-403-3 (.536) at Rollins in 18 seasons.  Sjogren also spent 15 years at Bryant going 359-305-2 (.541).  
 
Rollins had Jeslyn Whithead (1B), Adam Torres (2B) and Edward Berry (SP) earn First Team All-Sunshine State Conference, while Parker Smith (OF) and Nick Berger (SP) earned second team honors.  Sjogren earned SSC Coach of the Year honors.  Whitehead also was named to the All-Defensive Team.
 
For the Blazers, the team enters the regional fourth in the GSC in double plays with 34, while it is second in the league in ERA at a 4.93 clip for 63^rd nationally, second in sacrifice bunts with 29 for 49^th nationally, tops in the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.13) for 45^thnationally, tops in the GSC in triples (13), second in the league in WHIP (1.50) and 11^th nationally in walks allowed per nine innings at a 3.16 clip to lead the league.  
 
Individually, Gates is second in the GSC in hits with 76 for 59^th nationally, while he is second in the GSC in doubles with 18 for 59^thnationally.  Gates is second in the league in hits per game at a 1.58 clip for 39^th nationally.  Graduate student Jakob Sessa is tops in the GSC in triples with four, while senior Bryson Gandy is fifth in the GSC in walks with 35.  Gates' .394 batting average is good for fourth in the league.  Crawford is sixth in the league in runs scored (52), while he is fifth in stolen bases (20).  Henderson is third in the GSC in complete games (4) for 26^th nationally, while he is seventh in the league in ERA at a 3.86 clip.  Senior Kevin Tomas is third in the GSC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.92) and second in walks allowed per nine innings (1.69) for 37^th nationally.  
 
Heading into the regional, sophomore Jovanni Canegitta has reached safely in 19-straight games for the longest streak of the season by any player.  Lewis currently has reached safely in 13-straight games, while Crawford and graduate student Nick Gonzalez each are on six-game hitting streaks to lead the team.  Crawford also has reached in the last 12 games.  Stowe and Gates each have hit in the last five-straight.  Blazer head coach Greg Guilliams is 1,150-558-2 all-time in 33 seasons of coaching, while he is 473-301-1 (.611) at VSU in 16 seasons.  Guilliams coached 16 seasons at Embry-Riddle (1991-2007) and one season at Penn State-Behrend (1990-91).  
 
Guilliams and the Blazers improved to 41-41 all-time in the GSC Championship this season with ninth trip to the finals (4-5).  VSU won league titles in 1995, 2002, 2010 and 2013.  This season Gates earned first team all-conference honors as a designated hitter, while Henderson earned second team honors as a starting pitcher and Gates earned second team accolades as a relief pitcher.