VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State Blazers (22-16, 16-7 GSC) play host to the Lee Flames (22-16, 14-10 GSC) in a weekend series starting on Friday, April 11 at 5 p.m. at Billy Grant Field followed by a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
 
There are three weeks left in the regular season, as VSU will play host to Lee this weekend before going to Georgia Southwestern and Christian Brothers next week as they then welcome Saint Leo and West Florida to wrap things up before the GSC Tournament, which starts on Friday, May 2 in Oxford, Ala.
 
Things are tight in the Gulf South Conference as Delta State holds the top spot as they have a 2.5 game lead over Valdosta State who currently sits in second. Mississippi College and West Florida are both currently 15-9 in GSC play as they are 1.5 games back from the Blazers entering the home stretch. The Flames are currently in fifth place as they are 14-10 in the GSC as this is a very important series for them.
 
VSU went 2-2 last week as they fell at No. 1 UT on Tuesday before winning the series at AUM thanks to a clutch grand slam from Orlando Pena in an 11 inning game one thriller. Pena continues to mash, as he is tied for the league lead in home runs with 15, which is 13^th in the nation. He also leads the league in RBI with 56 which is eight in the country. DJ Banks continued to get on base last week, as he has reached base in every single game this season, tying Ryan Romano from last year for the most by a Blazer since at least 2013. On the year, Banks leads the team in hits with 52 and is getting on base at a .419 clip while driving in 33. Marcos Sevillano has walked a team high 25 times, which is tied for fifth in the league as he carries and OBP of .467 in 31 starts. On the mound Hunter Booth picked up his fifth win of the season as he is 5-4 on the year and holds and ERA of 3.65. Fellow starter Drake LaRoche also holds the same ERA, as the Fort Scott, Kansas product leads the team in wins with six as he has only walked ten batters in 49.1 innings pitched.
 
As a team, VSU is batting .298 as a team and have hit a league leading 70 doubles while scoring a total of 276 runs for an average of 7.3 a game. The pitching staff holds an ERA of 5.09 as they have walked a total of 120 batters which is the second best mark in the conference. The staff does a great job at forcing double plays, with the Blazers turning a total of 33 on the year, which is second in the conference and tenth in the nation. After starting out rocky on defense, the cast has come back with a fielding percentage of .963 as they have committed a total of 51 errors on the year.
 
The Lee Flames are red hot in conference play, as they have won their last three series and eight of nine total games in league play. After sweeping Christian Brothers and Montevallo, the Flames took two out of three versus West Florida as they sit one game back from third place. Lee is led by head coach Mark Brew, who is 720-320-2 in his 19 years leading the Flames. His pitching staff is led by ace Cooper Casteel, who is 5-3 on the year and holds an ERA of 2.38 in 56.2 innings pitched. The hometown kid is holding opponents to a .236 batting average and has fanned a total of 43 while only allowing six home runs. Middle infielder Luke Collier holds things down at the two spot, as he is batting .404 on the year with a total of 61 with seven triples, which is second in the nation. JJ Williams leads the team in home runs, as the outfielder is batting .344 with seven bombs as he has driven in a team high 33. As a squad, the Flames are batting .284 and hold an ERA of 4.73, good for fourth in the conference.