COLUMBUS, Ga. – After being down to their final strike, Orlando Pena singled up the middle to tie the game at five in the top of the ninth before walks doomed Valdosta State as they fell to Columbus State by a final of 9-8 in 12 innings. VSU dropped to 2-8 while CSU improved to 5-5.
 
Leadoff hitter Pedro Moreno went 0-3 but drew four walks and scored one run as he raised his on-base percentage significantly. Four Blazers tallied two hits as Canegitta hit his second home run of the season in the top of the eighth. Raynel Ortiz, Will Beckham, and Pena were the three others to record two or more hits as VSU collected 12 hits as a team to CSU's 16. VSU used a total of nine arms while Ryan Brown was given the loss after he pitched a strong 3.2 innings while fanning two and got the Blazers out of a jam in the bottom of the ninth to extend the game.
 
Valdosta State had their chances, as they left a total of 13 runners on base compared to Columbus State's nine while each team committed one error with the Blazers' being in the most crucial part of the game as it resulted in two runs for the Cougars in the bottom of the ninth.
 
VSU is back at it on Friday as they host Trevecca Nazarene for a three game series with game one on Friday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.
 
A leadoff walk to Pedro Moreno followed by a single through the right by Jovanni Canegitta had runners at second and third with one out following a throwing error by the right fielder. Hunter Stowe would groundout to the shortstop to plate Moreno to give Valdosta State a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Columbus State came right back in the bottom of the first with back to back singles to place runners at first and second with no one out. LaRoche would dial it in as he struck out two of the next three batters to get out of a jam in the bottom half with a 1-0 lead through one inning of work.
 
The Cougars would rally back to back hits again to open the bottom of the second with no one away for LaRoche. A sacrifice bunt followed by a single through the left side brought home two to give CSU a 2-1 lead through two innings of play.
 
Both teams went to new arms on this Tuesday afternoon game in the third as they tried to keep pitchers fresh for the upcoming weekend series. Both teams' bullpen arms went a perfect 1-2-3 in the third as the score remained 2-1 through three innings of ball.
 
Marcos Sevillano led things off in the top of the fourth with a single followed by a walk to Andres Natera to put runners on first and second with no one away. Raynel Ortiz dropped down a sacrifice bunt in a perfect small ball scenario to put the go-ahead run in scoring position for catcher Will Beckham, who recorded his second hit of the day with a ball up the middle as VSU jumped out to a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. The Cougars would even things in the bottom of the third as three singles played a run with Dewey Brock retiring the last batter of the inning on a flyout to get out a jam while allowing one run.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, head coach Jan Weisberg brought in JJ Finn out of relief, and he was jumped on immediately with a single and walk to start things off. Another sacrifice bunt placed runners at second and third with one gone. A deep fly ball into left plated a run followed by a single the next pitch as Columbus State took a 5-3 lead with two away in the bottom of the fifth. Finn would get Cruz to popout to retire the side as Valdosta State trailed 5-3.
 
A single by Ortiz followed by Moreno's third walk of the game attempted to jumpstart a two-out rally but a flyout ended the VSU threat in the top of the sixth inning. Preston Wetherell came in out of the pen in the bottom of the sixth for a perfect 1-2-3 inning to bring the Blazer bats back up with the 3-4-5 hitters stepping up to the plate as Valdosta State was still down.
 
With Jovanni Canegitta leading things off, he immediately jumped on a pitch with a solo shot into left center to cut the deficit in half with one swing to leadoff the top of the seventh. East Hood would single to the shortstop following two straight VSU strikeouts but was left stranded in the top of the seventh. Fresh out of the bullpen, Keaton Fuller ran into trouble as he allowed three straight singles to load the bases with no one out. After striking the next batter out and getting down 3-1 in the count, Fuller drew the count full before rolling a 6-4-3 double play to get out of a major jam.
 
In the top of the ninth, the Cougars brought in closer Trenton Burton to try and close the Blazers out for his second save against the heart of the order. Banks was retired on a grounder to third for the first out of the inning. Canegitta drew a five pitch walk to put the tying run on base for Stowe, who went down swinging for out number two. Canegitta stole second with one strike on Orlando Pena to move the tying run into scoring position with two away. Down to their final strike, Pena singled up the middle to plate Canegitta to tie things up a five. The Blazers weren't done there as Cole Steinmetz pinch-hit and singled through the left side followed by a single from Andres Natera on a 2-1 count to bring Pena around to score as VSU was ahead 6-5. Valdosta state kept pouring it on as Ortiz kept the line churning with a ball up the middle to extend the lead to 7-5. Following a change in pitchers, a wild pitch brought Natera around to score as the lead ballooned to 8-5.
 
Coach Weisberg elected to go to the team leader in saves in 2024 as Nick Ferrara came in to try and close the Cougars out. Ferrara couldn't keep control as he walked the first two batters before finally getting ahead 0-2 before allowing a single into right center to score a run and put the tying run on base with no one away. A stolen base from Meszar moving the tying run into scoring position with no one retired. Columbus State tied things up on an error by the third baseman to put the winning run at second base with no one out. Ryan Brown came in out of relief and retired the Cougars in order to send the game to extras tied at eight.
 
The bats would go quiet on both sides as each team would only muster a hit in both the 10^th and 11^th innings.
 
In the top of the 12^th, Beckham was hit by the pitch with one away before Moreno drew his fourth walk of the game to put the go-ahead run at second base with one away. A foul out and a grounder to first ended the Blazer threat as they were on their heels heading to the bottom of the 12^th. In the bottom of the 12^th, Warrick Wilmot opened the half of the inning with a double. A groundout to short moved the winning run 90 feet away with one away in the bottom of the 12^th. Following a one out walk, a deep sacrifice fly to centerfield extinguished the Blazers on Tuesday night as the Cougars won 9-8 in a 12 inning ballgame.