VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Valdosta State baseball team (16-28, 11-17 GSC) tallied one run in the opening inning, two in the second, and eight runs in the third, rolling past Christian Brothers (10-31, 5-23 GSC) by a 14-4 final in the series opener at Bllly Grant Field.

Valdosta State erupted in the third inning, sending 12 batters across the plate and scoring eight runs on nine hits to blow the game open, 11-0.

VSU finished with 14 runs on 14 hits, with several players putting together big nights at the plate. Juniors Ryan Strachan and Matt Keller led the charge, each going 3-for-3 with a home run and multiple RBI. Senior Brent Howard went 2-for-5 with a double, adding two RBI and two runs scored.

Junior Luke Flading drove in three runs on a double, wile senior Marcos Sevillano notched two hits and an RBI. Sophomore Parker Ladd walked twice and scored two runs, while junior Charlie Banks added a pair of hits in the win.

On the mound, junior Drake LaRoche turned in a complete-game effort in what will be his final start at Billy Grant Field. LaRoche held the Buccaneers to four runs on nine hits across 7.0 innings while striking out six to earn the complete-game win and improve to 5-4 on the season.

Christian Brothers was led by Isaac Lemanski, who finished 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Patrick Mangels recorded three hits including a triple.

The Blazers and Buccaneers will wrap up the series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The team is set to celebrate Senior Day at 12:10 p.m. at Billy Grant Field.

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 throughout the season.