CLINTON, Miss. – Sophomore Dennis Pierce launched his ninth homer of the season and Junior Nick Ferrara recorded his fourth save en route to a 7-5 Valdosta State baseball win over the Mississippi Choctaws on Friday night. Valdosta State has won four in a row and are now 18-12 (11-8 GSC), while Mississippi College dropped to 14-18 (6-13 GSC).
 
The Blazers came out on top despite being outhit 14-9 on Friday night in Clinton, as sophomore Raynel Ortiz picked up his third win of the year out of the bullpen.
 
Junior Pedro Moreno kicked off the weekend series with a first pitch double to right to put Valdosta State in scoring position early. Two straight batters reached via hit by pitch and a walk to have the bases loaded with no one out for junior Jovanni Canegitta, who grounded out to bring home Moreno and make it 1-0 early. A wild pitch from Holland Townes brought home Romano as it was 2-0. An error from Choctaw shortstop brought home sophomore Dennis Pierce to grow the lead to three heading into the bottom of the first. Redshirt junior Zac Dodson got the call on the mound Friday night, and he was able to strand a runner on third in the bottom of the first as VSU led MC 3-0 after one.
 
Two walks in the top of the second had runners at first in second for Canegitta again, who singled up the middle to bring home Moreno for the second time in two innings as it was 3-0 Valdosta State. After allowing a one out single, Dodson rolled a 5-4-3 double play to retire Mississippi College in order in the bottom of the second.
 
A leadoff double by the Choctaws had a runner on second with no one out to start the bottom of the third. A flyout and a groundout brought him around to score to make it 4-1 Valdosta State. Back-to-back two out hits had runners at second and third with two down. On a 1-1 count, a ball was ripped to third that was snagged out of the air by a leaping sophomore DJ Banks to steal two runs from MC and silence their threat.
 
The Blazers were retired in order in the top half of the fourth to bring up the Choctaw bats yet again. A one out walk was quickly erased as Dodson caught the runner leaning to eliminate the runner. Dodson finished up the bottom of the fourth by striking out the last batter looking as VSU led 4-1 through four.
 
Dennis Pierce led things off in the top of the fifth with a high towering solo shot for his ninth homer of the year to grow the lead to 5-1. Bryce LaRocca hit his second double of the game to start the bottom of the fifth. A single up the middle from Luis Alcantara stole that run right back as Valdosta State still led 5-2. Another MC single had runners on first and second with no one out. Head coach Greg Guilliams went to his bullpen and brought in sophomore Raynel Ortiz. Zac Dodson's final line was 4 innings pitched, eight hits allowed, one walk two strikeouts, and three runs allowed. A sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. The next pitch resulted in a groundout to Pedro Moreno, which brought home a run as it was now 5-3. Ortiz would fan the last batter of the inning to strand a runner at second, with Valdosta State leading 5-3 through five.
 
In the top of the sixth, back-to-back two out single by shortstop Pedro Moreno and senior Ryan Romano brought up Dennis Pierce, who drew a five pitch walk to load the bases and run Holland Townes out of the game. Canegitta grounded out to second to strand the bases loaded heading into the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom half, a single and a walk had runners at first and second with one out, before a double steal had the tying run at second base. A sacrifice fly brought one home and moved the tying run 90 feet away with two down. A flyout to right ended the inning with the Choctaws chipping away as the Blazers led 5-4 through six.
 
DJ Banks ripped a double into the right field corner to try and nab some insurance runs for Valdosta State in the top of the eighth. Freshman Daniel Kerrigan executed a sacrifice bunt perfectly to third to advance Banks with one out. Another bunt by Pedro Moreno brought home Banks to make it 6-4 Blazers heading to the bottom of the eighth. Back-to-back one out singles in the bottom of the eighth had the Choctaws cooking. Greg Guilliams went to bullpen and brought in junior southpaw Ryan Brown. After retiring the first batter he saw, Brown allowed a base hit up the middle to make it a one run game with the tying run in scoring position. A flyout to right ended the run but not before Mississippi College scored a run, as Valdosta State led 6-5 heading into the final frame.
 
Jovanni Canegitta drew a walk to start the top of the ninth, followed by an RBI double into the left field corner by junior Hunter Stowe for his 30^th run batted in on the season to give VSU a 7-5 lead heading into the last half inning. Junior Nick Ferrara came in to try and wrap things up for the Blazers against the heart of the Choctaws order. After a six pitch at-bat, Ferrara had the first batter out in front of the pitch to fan the leadoff hitter. Next batter was the same result, as the nasty off-speed pitch had two straight retired on strikeouts. A two-out double brought the tying run to the plate for MC in Cole Drake. An easy grounder to DJ Banks secured the Blazer victory, 7-5.
 
Valdosta State is back in action tomorrow for a doubleheader as they look to sweep starting at 2 p.m. ET.