VALDOSTA. Ga. – The second place Valdosta State Blazers will hit the road yet again as they travel to Huntsville, Ala. to play the Chargers for a three game slate with game one set for Friday, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. ET followed by a double header on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 1 p.m. ET.
 
The Blazers arguably suffered their toughest loss of the year at Saint Leo on Tuesday, as VSU lead the whole game before surrendering a walk off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth with a 5-3 lead. Orlando Pena continued his strong play as of late as he went 2-5 with a three-run home run in the top of the first.
 
Despite an overall record of 5-9, Valdosta State is 4-1 in conference play and are currently sitting 1.5 games back from Delta State, who is 12-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 in GSC play. VSU is currently half a game up on Montevallo, West Alabama, and West Florida for second as it will be a grind atop the standing all year. Last season, Valdosta State took two out of three against Alabama Huntsville as they scored a season high 23 runs in game one.
 
Orlando Peña has been swinging a hot stick as of late, as he is 10-23 at the plate over his last five games while he has slugged four home runs, two doubles, and a triple while driving in 12. On the season, Peña is batting .352 in 14 starts at third base while collecting a total of 19 hits and 14 RBI which are both second on the team. DJ Banks is the team leader in many categories as the second baseman is hitting .357 while tallying 20 hits and driving in 15. Banks has reached base in every game so far as he is holding a .413 on-base percentage in 14 starts. Marcos Sevillano is currently leading the Blazers and the GSC in batting average as he is 14-30 at the plate for a .467 clip. Sevillano is also tied for the team lead in doubles and he has four gappers in 11 games played while starting in eight.
 
It should be the usual 1-2-3 punch of Zac Dodson, Hunter Booth, and Drake LaRoche on the hill for head coach Jan Weisberg this weekend. Dodson had a great start last Friday as the righty went 6.0 innings and allowed a total of seven huts while allowing two runs with only one of the being earned. The Boca Raton native fanned four to bring his season strikeout total to 11 which is third on the team in 22.0 innings pitched. Booth had the best showing of the weekend as he went 7.0 innings and allowed a total of three hits while allowing no runs and striking out four. On the year, both Booth and Dodson have a 3.27 ERA in 22.0 innings of work. LaRoche will be the probable starter for the final game of the series as he went 5.2 innings last week and allowed a total of four runs with only one of them being earned while punching out five. LaRoche has started in four games and has an ERA of 5.17 in 15.2 innings of work while holding opponents to a .262 batting average.
 
Alabama Huntsville welcomes Valdosta State to town with a record of 7-7 overall while being 2-4 in the GSC so far. The Chargers took two out of three versus Christian Brothers to open GSC play before getting swept at Lee last weekend. UAH is led by head coach Hunter Royer, who is in his 16^th year at the helm of the Chargers and holds an overall record of 433-292-2 during his time. Royer's offense is batting .259 which is currently dead last in the GSC as they have only hit six home runs which is also towards the bottom of the league. UAH hits a lot of doubles as they have collected a total of 25 which is tied for second in the league. Presley Walker leads the team in hits as he has tallied 16 in just 11 games played for a .421 average. The senior utility man holds and OPS of 1.259 which is second in the league as he has mashed two home runs and picked up four doubles plus a triple thus far. The Alabama Huntsville arms have struggled so far as they have a team ERA of 8.19 ERA while their three starters sit anywhere between a 6.52 and 8.62. Opponents are hitting .317 against the arms and have slugged a total of ten homers through 14 games.
 
Following the weekend series, VSU will play five straight games at home as they host Nova Southeastern on Tuesday, Mar. 4 at 6 p.m. followed by a second game on Wednesday, Mar. 5 at 4 p.m. The Blazers will wrap up the homestand with a series against West Alabama starting on Friday, Mar. 7 at 5 p.m. followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 8 at 1 p.m.