VALDOSTA, Ga. — The Valdosta State baseball team (2-5, 1-0 GSC) opened Gulf South Conference play in dramatic fashion Friday night, defeating Union (4-4, 0-1 GSC) 9-8 on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning.
After Union built a 7-4 advantage through the first four innings, Valdosta State fought back on offense with three runs over the fifth and sixth innings. The Bulldogs led 8-7 in the eighth inning when junior Luke Flading delivered a clutch double to bring home a run and even the score at 8-8. The sides would hold each other scoreless in the final frames of regulation.
In the bottom of the tenth inning, senior Marcos Sevillano, who had drawn a walk earlier in the inning, advanced to third on a single from junior Charlie Banks. Moments later, Sevillano broke for home on a wild pitch and slid in safely to complete the electric walk-off victory.
Banks, the teams leading batter entering the night, finished 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. The junior also delivered the key ninth-inning single that moved the winning run into scoring position.
Junior Matt Keller recorded three hits on the night, including two doubles, while also adding a single and scoring twice. Junior Luke Flading doubled and drove in a clutch run, while senior Luca Maberry and junior Jason Mack each added two hits apiece. The Blazers tallied 13 hits as a team in the win.
On the mound, junior Garrett Moody got the start, striking out four opponents across 3.1 innings. Redshirt freshman Ty Macera provided a strong effort in relief, tossing 2.2 innings while allowing just one run and striking out four.
The bullpen showed up down the stretch when seniors Vinny Del Negro and Keaton Fuller each posted scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Finally, junior Cam Habada delivered two shutout innings in the ninth and tenth to earn the win and continue his season-long scoreless relief campaign.
Looking Forward
The Blazers and Bulldogs will finish out the series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Billy Grant Field. Game two will begin roughly 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Find live stats, written coverage, streaming links, and more on vstateblazers.com and follow @VState_Blazers as well as @VState_Baseball to stay up to date with the team as they begin GSC play.
