VALDOSTA —
Valdosta State used a seven-run third inning to defeat Georgia Southwestern 12-1 in non-conference baseball action at Billy Grant Field Tuesday evening.
Valdosta State (9-10) jumped out to an early lead as it scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Matthew Fears opened the inning and was sacrificed to third before Bryant Hayman was hit by a pitch to put two runners on and advanced a base on a wild pitch that scored Fears. Three batters later, Cooper Lemonds singled through the right-side of the infield to bring Hayman home for a 2-0 VSU lead.
Georgia Southwestern (6-16) got a run back in the top of the third without the benefit of a hit. With one out in the third, John Duran reached base on a wild pitch on a swinging third strike and made it all the way to third when a throw on a pickoff attempt sailed into the right field corner. A sacrifice fly followed to cut the Blazer advantage to 2-1.
VSU sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning as it blew the game open. Ryan McClellan doubled down the left field line to open the frame before Hayman and Jake Fields were hit by pitches to load the bases.
Michael Gouge hit a sacrifice fly to score McClellan and Lemonds reached on an infield single to reload the bases while Hayman scored on a wild pitch.
A Nick Rodda base on balls reloaded the bases and chased GSW starter Earl Dupree.
Hunter Thompson greeted reliever Drew Cataldo with a single to center that scored Fields and Lemonds. Will Wilson proceeded to hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Rodda and Fears double to score Thompson.
McClellan collected his second hit of the frame, a single up the middle, that scored Fears to give Valdosta State a 9-1 advantage.
A Hurricane error in the fourth inning led to a RBI single by Rodda while Fears doubled and scored on a Hayman single in the fifth to push the Blazer lead to 10 runs. Valdosta State added a run in the seventh while Georgia Southwestern got three in the eighth.
Ben Watson improved to 1-1 on the season as he gave up just one hit and struck out four in 3.0 innings of relief work.
Fears was 4-for-5 with four runs scored to lead Valdosta State offensively in the game. McClellan added three hits and Thompson and Lemonds two each as Valdosta State tallied 15 in the game.
Valdosta State returns to action today at 5 p.m. when it hosts Flagler at Billy Grant Field.
Blazers Blog
Blazers end losing ways, hammer Georgia Southwestern
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Blazers fall to Molloy in eight innings
With only one out remaining and trailing by three, the Molloy Lions strung together four hits to plate three runs in the seventh followed by another run in the eighth inning to defeat Valdosta State’s softball team 5-4 in the first round of the 2013 Division II Softball National Championship Tournament on Thursday in Salem, Va.
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Albritton, Johnson earn All-America honors
Valdosta State softball players Courtney Albritton and Morgan Johnson gathered multiple All-America honors late Wednesday night.
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Sending the Blazers off
The Valdosta State softball team made the long journey to Salem, Va. Tuesday, leaving Valdosta at 10:30 a.m. with devoted fans cheering them out of the parking lot.
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VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
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Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
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Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Former Lady Blazer Ferguson hired to lead Vikettes
The sign above the door still has Shan Garner’s name on it. There is even a Shan Garner plaque sitting on one of the shelves in the corner of the gymnasium office.
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VSU wins 7th GSC Men’s All-Sports Trophy
Look out Title Town, another trophy is coming to town.
Valdosta State’s athletic department was awarded a seventh Gulf South Conference Men’s All-Sports Trophy Tuesday, sharing the honor with West Florida.
The tie between VSU and West Florida marked the first time in the GSC’s 42-year history that a pair of schools shared the honor. Both schools finished the athletic season with 29.5 points, based on the conference’s point system that gauges athletic success. -
Baseball Heading to Tampa for NCAA Regional Play
The Valdosta State baseball team learned Sunday night that it will open the 2013 NCAA South Region Tournament against Delta State at the UT Baseball Field on the campus of the University of Tampa.
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