VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State Blazer baseball team heads down south to the Sunshine State to play the no. 10 Saint Leo Lions on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 5 p.m. Live stats and a broadcast link can be found at vstateblazers.com under the baseball schedule page.
 
The Blazers enter this matchup with the Lions holding a 7-5 (2-4 GSC) record. For Saint Leo, they welcome Valdosta State with a 9-2 (2-1 SSC) record.
 
VSU is coming off a 1-2 trip to Cleveland, Tenn. against Lee. For the series, Senior Ryan Romano had a solid showing, going 5-10 over the weekend including a 4-4 game on Friday night with two doubles and two driven in. On the season, Romano is third in the conference with a batting average of .471. Just behind him is sophomore Dennis Pierce, who is batting .425 early on, good for tenth in the GSC. The slugging first baseman/outfielder has been a great addition for the Blazers, as he leads the team in hits (17), triples (2), home runs (3), RBIs (18), OPS (1.306), and slugging (.775). As a team, VSU is batting .303 and carriers a 4.79 ERA from their pitching staff, good for third in the GSC. In total, the arms have walked 40 batters, which is second best in the conference. True freshman Jacob King has been a stud in four games. As he has fanned seven batters over 8.0 innings and only allowing one run, which brings his season ERA to 1.13.
 
For Saint Leo, they are entering this matchup having won seven of their last eight games and sit atop the Sunshine State Conference. To open up their season, the Lions hosted GSC foe Auburn Montgomery in the three-game set. Saint Leo won two out of three for the series. As a team, the Lions hit .270 on the season and have a team ERA of 2.44 which is good for second in the conference. On the bump, Saint Leo is led by senior Luke Lashutka, who is first in the nation in ERA with a 0.00 ERA and a 4-0 record. The righty has pitched in 30 innings and has allowed 22 hits and has only walked three batters. On the offensive end, the Lions are led by senior outfielder Mikey Scott. Scott has started in 10 games this season and is hitting .429 in 35 at bats. He is currently tied for the team lead in steals with nine and has driven in a team-leading ten runners. Saint Leo is led by head coach Rick O'Dette, who is in his seventh season at the helm of the Lions, during that period, he holds a record of 154-107. Prior to Saint Leo, O'Dette was the head coach at his alma mater St. Joseph's (IN), where he was 494-407-4 across 17 seasons.
 
After this Tuesday night matchup, Valdosta State will return to Titletown to play host to the Union Bulldogs on Friday, Mar. 1 at 5 p.m. before playing a double header on Saturday, Mar. 2 with the first game starting at 1 p.m.