VALDOSTA, Ga. – In a back and forth game that ended with a final scoring looking like a football game, the VSU Blazers fell to the GSW Hurricanes 17-14 on Tuesday night at Billy Grant Field. Valdosta State dropped to 1-6 while Georgia Southwestern improved to 5-3.
 
The corner outfielders of Marcos Sevillano and Easton Hood were on fire today, as they both tallied a season high in hits with three apiece while Sevillano tallied three RBI on two doubles while Hood tallied four RBI on a double and a two-run homer.
 
Head coach Jan Weisberg used nine arms today as starter Trey Jackson logged 3.2 innings of work and allowed two earned runs while striking out three. No other pitcher logged more than 1.1 innings of work as they couldn't throw strikes with the unit combining for eight walks/hit by pitches which came back to bite the Blazers in the end.
 
For the Hurricanes, center fielder Matthew Manuel was the star as he went 3-6 with three runs scored, three RBI, one double, and a homerun. Out of the bullpen, righty Carsen Plumadore logged three innings of work and didn't allow a run until two outs in the ninth as he allowed four hits and two earned runs while picking up his fourth save of the season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Following a leadoff walk in the top of the first, catcher Will Beckham threw a laser to DJ Banks at second base to catch GSW leadoff hitter Cory Lee stealing in the top half of the first. After DJ Banks recorded a one-out hit through the left side, senior Jovanni Canegitta launched a two-run homerun into the trees into right to give the Blazers an early 2-0 lead.
 
Senior Trey Jackson was whizzing through the Hurricanes order, as he retired the side in order in the top of third while striking out two to maintain the 2-0 Blazer lead. In his first three innings, Jackson allowed one hit and one walk while fanning three on 45 pitches.
 
The Canes got on the board in the top of the fourth as a one out solo homerun from David Hernandez cut the Blazer lead in half as VSU was leading 2-1 with one out in the top of fourth. With two outs in the top half, Paul Hegeman hit the second home run of the inning to tie things up at two through three and half innings of play. 
 
The Blazers ran into trouble in the top of the fifth, as a dropped fly ball followed by a botched ground ball plated two runs as the Hurricanes took a 4-2 lead with no one out and a runner in scoring position as they looked to tack more on. After getting ahead 2-1, GSW leadoff hitter Corey Lee poked a ball into centerfield to extend the lead to 5-2. Valdosta State exploded in the bottom half, as junior Andres Natera led things off with a solo shot into left before senior Marcos Sevillano lined a single to short to bring the tying run to the plate, as senior Easton Hood blasted a ball into left to even things at five as he took his time to trot around the bases after delivering on the clutch homer.
 
GSW retook the lead in the top of the sixth on a couple of hits as they jumped all over the VSU bullpen as a two-out double brought home two of the four runs in the top half to take a 9-5 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. Jovanni Canegitta drew a four pitch walk in the bottom of the sixth followed by a double down the left field line from senior Hunter Stowe to put two runners in scoring position with no one out. Orlando Pena lifted a fly ball into center to plate Canegitta to bring home a run before Natera drew a four pitch walk to put runners at the corners with one away. Marcos Sevillano made it a one run game with a double into right center as the Blazers were now trailing 9-8 with the tying run in scoring position. Following a pitching change, a strikeout and hit batter placed runners on first and second with two down for senior Pedro Moreno, who laced a double down the left field line as catcher Will Beckham raced home to give Valdosta State a 10-9 lead. The two out hitting didn't stop there as DJ Banks joined the fun on a double to left center to plate Moreno and extend the lead to 11-9 through six.
 
Following a pitching change for VSU, GSW stole the lead back on a three-run home run from Matthew Manuel following a walk and hit batter to make it 12-11 in the top of the seventh with no one gone. Clutch two out hitting brought home another run as they extended the lead to 13-11 with runners at the corners with two away. A passed ball following a poor throw at third plated two more runs as the Hurricanes were leading 15-11 heading to the bottom of the seventh. The Blazers wouldn't go away easily, as the first two batters were hit to open the bottom frame before a ten pitch AB advanced both runners into scoring position with one gone. A sacrifice fly from Marcos Sevillano brought Stowe around to score as East Hood broke his metal bat for a bloop single into right to bring home Pena as the Blazers trailed 15-13 through seven innings.
 
GSW tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh as a triple from Jarrett Jenkins brought home two on a ball into the right center gap to make it 17-13 as VSU had six outs left to mount a comeback. The Blazers went quietly in the bottom of the eighth as Canegitta picked up a two out knock but was left stranded at first.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, back to back doubles from Sevillano and Hood attempted to jumpstart the Valdosta State offense but fell just short as Georgia Southwestern escaped with a 17-14 win in Valdosta.
 
The Blazers hit the road as they head to Jackson, Tenn. for a three game set with the Union Bulldogs starting on Friday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. ET.