OXFORD, Ala.- The Valdosta State baseball team fell to West Florida in a hard-fought 10-inning contest in the Gulf South Conference Championship Tuesday evening, 10-8.
 
VSU fell to 33-18 with the loss on Tuesday evening as UWF improved to 37-15. Graduate student JP Gates went 4 for 5 with two doubles and two RBI while sophomore Hunter Stowe was 3 for 6 with two runs scored. Five total Blazer batters tallied multi-hit games for a total of 16 hits.
 
UWF was led by four players with multiple hits, including hitting two home runs in the game, one from Trent Jeffcoat in the top of the seventh, the other from Mark Townsend in the top of the tenth in the form of a go-ahead two run home run.
 
On the mound, senior Kevin Thomas (5-4) took the loss in 2.1 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, and one strikeout. UWF's Jacob Heath (4-3) earned the win in 2.2 innings of relief with four strikeouts.
 
The Blazer offense got things going in the bottom of the third when Stowe hit a lead-off single to begin the inning. Gates then smacked a single up the middle before graduate student Jacob Sessa advanced the baserunners with a sacrifice bunt. With Gates on second and Stowe on third, sophomore Jovanni Canegitta hit a groundout to send Stowe home and put VSU up 1-0 by the end of the frame.
 
In the top of the fifth, West Florida got two runners on base behind a pair of walks before a wild pitch advanced the two to second and third base. A singled then allowed one Argonaut to score and knot the game up at 1-1. The Argonauts ended up taking the lead in the top of the seventh behind a one-out solo home run, 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Valdosta State struck back as sophomore Kevin Taylor took a hit-by-pitch walk to put a Blazer on base early in the inning. A sacrifice bunt allowed Taylor to make it to second before Gates smashed a double to score Taylor and tie the game up once again, 2-2.
 
The Argonauts answered back in the top of the eighth with a six-run inning on eight total hits including six consecutive singles to take an 8-2 lead.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, the Blazers rallied behind an incredible display of resiliency and excellent at-bats. With one out, junior Jacob Harper smacked a double to deep right center before senior Bryson Gandy blasted a two-run homer to cut the Argonaut lead to four, 8-4. The Blazers repeated this pattern as sophomore Trent Lewis cracked a double of his own, setting up a booming two-run shot from junior Jose Crisostomo-Bock to cut the UWF lead to only two, 8-6. Junior David Crawford and Stowe both hit singles before Gates doubled down the right field line to score another run for VSU, 8-7. The Blazers ended up tying the game on an Argonaut miscue as Stowe scored from third to knot the contest at 8-8 by the end of the frame.
 
With the game tied up at the end of the ninth, the Blazers and Argonauts entered extra innings. In the top of the tenth, with two outs, the Argonauts took advantage of a Blazer miscue before hitting a two-run home runto take the lead, 10-8. The Blazers fought hard all game, but came up just short at the end of the tenth as West Florida won the GSC Championship 10-8.
 
Over the weekend, multiple Blazers showed excellency on the field to earn All-Tournament honors including Crawford, Stowe, Gates, Harper and junior Zane Stephens.
 
The Blazers will now await the updated NCAA South Region Rankings which will release sometime Wednesday afternoon. For more updates regarding Valdosta State baseball, visit vstateblazers.com