VALDOSTA —
The last time the Valdosta State baseball team faced the North Alabama Lions, the Blazers took two of three games from the then-No. 1 ranked Lions.
Tonight, the two teams meet again, but this time it comes in the opening round of the Gulf South Conference tournament.
The Blazers (26-17) and the Lions (36-14) will meet at 7:30 p.m. at State Mutual Stadium in Rome, the home of the Class A Rome Braves and the site of the this year’s conference tournament.
VSU will send Pete Whittingslow to the hill, while North Alabama will send Chad Boughner, a first-team All-GSC pitcher that earned the win against VSU earlier this season.
“The one game we lost (in April), that kid is pitching against us (tonight),” said Valdosta State head coach Greg Guilliams. “And at the end of the day, it is all about pitching and who you are facing. So from that standpoint, they have the advantage on us.”
Whittingslow gets the start today because VSU ace Kevin Rogers is still plagued by an injury to his middle finger on his throwing hand. Rogers’ status for the tournament was unknown as of Thursday afternoon.
Whittingslow has a 5-4 record this season with a 3.99 earned run average. In his start against North Alabama earlier this season, Whittingslow went all seven innings and allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits and struck out eight to earn the win and secure the weekend series win for the Blazers.
“Whittingslow has pitched well in conference games,” Guilliams said. “He is going to have to pitch well.”
VSU will serve as the fifth seed in the tournament, and enters as winners of four of its last five games, which included a weekend series win over reigning national champion West Florida last weekend.
North Alabama finished the regular season in second place in the GSC standings, but will serve as the No. 4 seed in the tournament, due to tiebreakers.
This year’s conference tournament features a tight field. Heading into last weekend, the Nos. 1-7 seeds for the conference tournament were undecided. In the final standings, just two games separated No. 1 seed Delta State from the fifth seeded Blazers.
“Certainly, with how close it is this year, it is safe to say there is probably six teams going into this thing that could win it,” said Guilliams.
To win the conference tournament, Guilliams said it will take five quality starting pitching performances, much like Valdosta State received in 2010, when it won the conference title.
“It starts on the mound,” said Guilliams. “You have to get five good starting pitching performances to win it. Four won’t do it; you will need five. In 2010, when we won it, that is what we got.”
Heading into the tournament, the Blazers are in need of at least three strong starting pitching performances that will help boost them to three victories. That is what it will likely take for VSU to earn a bid to the regional tournament. The Blazers are currently the eighth ranked team in the South Region.
“We are in a situation where we are eighth team in the region, and the top seven teams go,” said Guilliams. “We have to beat some teams ahead of us.”
The eighth seed in the South Region tournament will go to the automatic qualifier from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
A key for the Blazers, along with pitching, could be the play of Christian Glisson, who was named first team All-GSC on Thursday. Glisson leads the Blazers with a .420 average, 20 doubles, 68 hits, 44 runs batted in, 121 total bases, a .747 slugging percentage and a .508 on base percentage.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have three guys here (at Valdosta State) that have had great offensive numbers, Brandon Decker, Matt Costello and Glisson,” said Guilliams. “When you have a guy like that in your lineup, he makes everybody around him better. Guys in front of him get better pitches, and guys behind him are going to get pitched to more. The impact he has made to our team, he has made the whole team better.”
Glisson was joined on the all-conference team by catcher Bryant Hayman, who was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Hayman was the only freshman selected to the GSC first team. He batted .331 this season with nine doubles, one triple and eight home runs among his 46 hits.
Second baseman Marc Overstreet and outfielder Cameron Graves were also named to the first team. Pitcher Kevin Rogers was named to the second team.
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