OXFORD, Ala. – The Valdosta State baseball team mashed their way to victory on Friday night in round one of the Gulf South Conference Tournament, downing the no. 5 seeded Montevallo Falcons 13-2 in eight innings thanks to three homers and strong pitching. Valdosta State improved to 27-18 (18-12 GSC) while Montevallo dropped to 27-22 (17-13 GSC).
 
Back-to-back homers from junior Jovanni Canegitta and junior Hunter Stowe gave Valdosta State an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, as they never looked back. Redshirt junior Zac Dodson had yet another strong start, earning his third win in four starts as he finished with a line of six innings, six hits allowed, two earned runs allowed, and one free pass. Dodson tied a career-high in strikeouts with eight on 90 pitches. At the plate, Jovanni Canegitta and Hunter Stowe each went 3-4 with a home run and combined for five runs scored. Senior Ryan Romano had two doubles and extended his on-base streak to 34 straight games while Pierce hit his 14^th home run of the season to extend his on-base streak to 32 straight games.
 
Redshirt junior Zac Dodson got the call for the first round of the GSC tournament, as the righty got to a full count before striking out the leadoff hitter with a fastball. Dodson forced the next two Falcon hitters to roll over on back-to-back pitches to retire the side in order on just eight pitches. Junior Pedro Moreno reached on an error to opens things up in the bottom half, as he then stole a base after senior Ryan Romano flied out to right. Sophomore Dennis Pierce drew a full count walk to bring up junior Jovanni Canegitta, who was recently named to All-GSC Second Team. After taking a first pitch strike, the right fielder blasted a no-doubt shot into right field as Valdosta State jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. Junior Hunter Stowe followed suit, taking a first pitch striking as he then smoked a solo shot to right center for back-to-back jacks as VSU led UM 4-0 after one inning.
 
In the top of the third, Zac "Doddy" Dodson kept rolling, as he struck out one Falcon and kept the others at bay as he had 35 pitches through three innings of one-hit ball. Montevallo's Gino Cozzi started to settle in, as he retired the side in order as Valdosta State led 4-0 through three.
 
Following a leadoff hit by Montevallo in the top of the fourth, Doddy breezed through the rest of the order, striking out three-straight Falcons to leave the runner stranded through three and a half innings. In the bottom half of the frame, Hunter Stowe led-off with an infield single to second, as sophomore DJ Banks followed things up with a walk to put runners on first and second with no one out. Senior David Crawford showed off his speed with a perfectly dropped bunt to load the bases. Following a strikeout, sophomore Marcos Sevillano lifted a flyball into center to bring home Stowe to grow the lead to 5-0. Following a pitching change, leadoff hitter Pedro Moreno laced a ball over the shortstop to bring home two and give VSU a touchdown lead. Senior Ryan Romano traded spots with Moreno with another double as it was quickly 8-0 in favor of the Blazers through four innings.
 
Following yet another 1-2-3 from Dodson in the top of the fifth, the Blazers bats came up yet again in the bottom of the fifth with back-to-back singles from Canegitta and Stowe had VSU cookin'. A single from DJ Banks brought home Canegitta to grow it to 9-0. Another free pass loaded the bases again for senior Jacob Harper, who lifted a sacrifice fly to center to make it 10-0 through five.
 
Dodson ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, as he allowed four hits which plated two as Valdosta State was still leading, up 10-2 through six.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, head coach Greg Guilliams went to his bullpen, as he turned to sophomore Raynel Ortiz to try and limit any more Falcon runs. Ortiz breezed through the order, striking out the first two before forcing a groundout to send the bats to the plate. A one-out walk from David Crawford gave the Blazers a chance to score more runs, as a hit and run from Crawford was executed to perfection as Marcos Sevillano tucked a ball down the first base line to steal a run back as VSU led 11-2 through seven.
 
Ortiz kept chugging along in the top of the eighth, allowing one baserunner but other than that retired the rest of the Montevallo hitters to keep the lead intact. Ryan Romano hit his second double of the evening to open things up in the bottom half. On a 3-1 pitch, Dennis Pierce mashed his 14^th homer of the year to dead center to give Valdosta State a 13-2 run-rule win in round one.
 
Valdosta State will now face the winner of No. 1 seeded Lee and No. 8 West Georgia tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET.