AMERICUS, Ga. - The Valdosta State baseball team (14-27) hits the road Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. rematch with Georgia Southwestern (20-22) at Hurricane Field.
The Blazers hold a 21-18 edge in the all-time series, though the Hurricanes claimed a 14-3 win at Billy Grant Field in the last meeting between the two teams back in February.
Valdosta State enters the midweek contest after a week of highs and lows, highlighted by last Tuesday's win at No. 2 Tampa, but looking to respond after being swept at Lee over the weekend. The Blazer offense has seen strong production from junior Charlie Banks with a .288 average, 10 home runs and 39 RBI on the year.
Sophomore Parker Ladd (.321) has made his way from the bench to the top of the order as the team's most consistent bat, while senior Brent Howard (.282, team-leading 27 BB) and junior Luke Flading (.278) have been regular presences on the bases this year. The Blazers saw big production from junior Ryan Strachan last week with a .412/.444/.765 slash line, highlighted by a game-tying three-run home run in the upset over No. 2 Tampa.
On the mound, the Blazer starter is hard to predict, as the team prepares for back-to-back midweek games before a three-game series over the weekend. VSU could turn to last week's Tuesday starter in redshirt freshman Boomer Dunn or another potential arm. Senior Keaton Fuller has been the teams most reliable option out of the bullpen with a 2.92 ERA. Junior Hunter Ward will be an arm to watch the rest of the way after he closed out last week's win at Tampa with 3.1 scoreless-innings pitched.
Georgia Southwestern brings one of the more productive offenses in the region into Tuesday's contest, led by Devon Murphy (.341, 48 RBI), Evan Wainman (.344, 8 HR), Drake Harman (.345), Josh McDonald (.338), and Caleb Gipson (.308).
On the mound, Georgia Southwestern could turn to a number of arms in the midweek role. Wade Johnson earned the win for the Canes in their previous meeting with the Blazers behind six innings of two run, three-hit baseball.
First pitch is set for 6 p.m. tomorrow evening at Hurricane Field in Americus, Ga.
Find live stats, written coverage, streaming options, and more on vstateblazers.com and follow @VState_Blazers as well as @VState_Baseball to stay up to date with the team throughout the season.
