By Adam MacDonald
MILLINGTON, Tenn. — Valdosta State catcher Chase Blackwood has hit four home runs in the Gulf South Conference tournament, but none was bigger than his second homer on Wednesday against Harding.
Blackwood broke an 8-8 tie with the Bisons with a titanic solo homer in the top of the 10th to give VSU a 9-8 lead. The Bisons then went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th against reliever Austin Smith, and VSU avoided elimination in the GSC tournament for the second consecutive day with a 9-8 win.
“It was a lot of weight lifted off of my shoulders,” Blackwood said. “For us seniors, it could have been our last game. None of us want to go home. We’ve worked so hard this year, and we want to make that regional and keep playing. Running around those bases, I was thinking, ‘This isn’t my last game.’ Our motto here has been ‘One more day.’ So far, it’s held true.”
VSU (40-18) led the game 8-1 after 5 1/2 innings, but the Bisons, also facing elimination, put together a furious rally. Harding (32-25) scored a run in the sixth, three runs in the seventh and three in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 8-8.
With two outs and the game tied at 8-8 in the ninth, Smith got Will McDonald to strike out swinging with the winning run 90 feet away on third base for Harding.
Bisons reliever Dakota Gardner got two quick outs to start the 10th inning, but served up the game-winning home run to Blackwood that landed halfway up a tree 30 feet beyond the wall in left center.
“As long as it puts us ahead, I don’t care how far it went,” Blackwood said. “I’m here to win this tournament, and whatever I can do to help our team, I’m all for it.”
It was Blackwood’s 20th homer of the season which ties him with teammate Brandon Decker for the most in the GSC.
“I felt like everyone in the dugout was thinking the same thing I was — ‘Hit one out,’” Guilliams said. “The pitcher made a mistake, and left the ball up. That was probably the furthest home run I’ve seen him hit this year.”
The win keeps VSU’s hopes for a GSC title and a berth in the South Regional tournament alive. The Blazers will take on West Florida today at 2 p.m. Eastern time in another elimination game.
“At this point, with where we are at, and how we’re depleted pitching-wise, we’ll come out hopefully with the attitude that we have nothing to lose, because that’s really the situation we’re in,” Guilliams said.
VSU jumped out to an early lead. Blackwood, batting second in the Blazers’ lineup, hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to put VSU up 2-0.
The Bisons got on the board in the second on a two-out RBI single off of starter Jeremy Forbus to make it 2-1.
The game remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth, when VSU plated five runs to make it 7-1. Decker led off with a walk and moved to third on a single by Matt Costello. Clayton Cain followed with an RBI single that scored Decker and moved Costello to third. Costello scored on an RBI ground out by Smith and Cain scored from second on an RBI double by Blaine Wilson. Logan Pierce singled to left to score Wilson, and later in the inning, Pierce stole home to make it 7-1.
VSU added a run to make it 8-1 in the sixth. With the bases loaded, reliever D.A. Kremer uncorked a wild pitch, which allowed Costello to come home from third.
It appeared that the Blazers were heading for their second consecutive blowout in the GSC tournament, but Harding had other ideas.
The Bisons got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run by Adam Darby to make it 6-2. Harding scored three more runs in the seventh off of reliever Steve Turner to make it 8-5. The Bisons could have added a lot more. They had the bases loaded with one out, but Ross Gusky got cleanup hitter Wisley Correa to ground into an inning-ending double play to stop the bleeding.
Still trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Harding loaded the bases with no outs off of Gusky. Smith came on in relief and gave up a two-run single to the first batter he faced, which cut VSU’s lead to 8-7. With runners at first and second, Correa bunted the runners over to second and third. Smith intentionally walked the next hitter to load the bases and set up a potential double play ball.
The plan almost worked, as Kevin Ganus grounded the ball to shortstop Sho Kohata, who flipped to second baseman Chaz Bagwell for the second out. But Ganus beat out Bagwell’s throw to first. A double play would have ended the game, but instead, Ganus was safe and the tying run scored from third to make it 8-8.
Smith then struck out McDonald, and the winning run for Harding was stranded on third.
After Blackwood’s devastating homer in the top of the 10th, Harding went quietly in the bottom of the 10th.
Smith improved to 1-3 on the season by pitching the final two innings and giving up one hit and no runs. It was his first appearance since March 14. He began the season as the closer, but shoulder problems have kept him from pitching.
“We were in a tough spot, because our relief pitching really let us down today,” Guilliams said. “We were in a situation where I was hoping to save Austin for tomorrow, but obviously if we didn’t win this one, there was no tomorrow, so we had to bring him in. We’re very proud of the way he came in and fought out there.”
Blackwood went 2-for-6 with three RBIs. His two home runs gives Valdosta State 105 homers on the year, extending its school record. Costello went 3-for-5 with a pair of singles and a double.
Forbus went four innings and gave up four hits and one run. He retired seven in a row before giving up a single to lead off the fifth. He was then lifted for Turner.
Gardner took the loss for Harding. Before giving up the homer to Blackwood, Gardner allowed just one hit in 3.2 innings.
Harding starter Troy Keith was chased after giving up six runs in 4.1 innings. Keith walked eight batters in the game, but only two of those walks scored. He walked five in the first inning alone. Bisons leadoff hitter Chase Presley went 3-for-6.
“They didn’t quit, and they had a chance late in the ball game,” Guilliams said. “They’re a well-coached team, and they fight hard. With their season on the line, I wasn’t surprised that they fought us.”
VSU reached the 40 win marker for the first time since 2002, the last time they won the GSC tournament. It’s only the second time the Blazers have reached 40 wins since joining the GSC.
