VALDOSTA —
West Florida scored two runs in the top of the ninth, and defeated Valdosta State 6-4 in the final game of their three-game baseball series on Sunday at Billy Grant Field.
With the loss, Valdosta State finished the regular season 26-16 and 14-9 in conference play. The Blazers will be the fifth seed in next weekend’s Gulf South Conference tournament.
“Our defense cost us,” Valdosta State head coach Greg Guilliams said. “We gave up three earned runs in nine innings, and normally that’s enough to win the game, and certainly that was enough today. But you can’t make (three) errors and think you’re going to come out on top. That’s tough to overcome, and I think that was the difference in the game.”
The teams were tied 4-4 heading into the ninth inning. With one out in the top of the ninth, West Florida’s Taye Larry drew a walk, then stole second. Guilliams brought in Steven Groves, the Blazers’ shortstop, to pitch. Groves walked Andrew Rodriguez, and Larry went to third on a wild pitch on ball four. Then Groves’ pickoff throw caught Rodriguez off of first. Rodriguez got in a rundown and would have been out, but the new shortstop couldn’t handle the throw from the first baseman, and Larry sprinted home to give the Argonauts a 5-4 lead. After a strikeout, Billy O’Connor lined a single to right, and Rodriguez slid in ahead of the tag at home plate, giving West Florida a 6-4 lead.
West Florida relief ace Bobby Parker retired the side in the bottom of the ninth to close out the win.
Early on, West Florida took the lead with two runs in the top of the third. With one out, Rodriguez singled to center field. Rodriguez stole second, and went to third when the catcher’s throw went into center field. Dustin Saulmon followed with a seeing-eye single to center, scoring Rodriguez. Saulmon took second when a pickoff throw went into right field. Then with two outs, Josh Huggins hit a low line drive into right field. Blazer right fielder Ryan Noelte dove for the ball, but couldn’t come up with the catch. Saulmon was running on contact, and scored to give the Argonauts a 2-0 lead.
Valdosta State struck for three runs and grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Buster Jackson drew a one-out walk and Marc Overstreet reached on catcher’s interference for the second day in a row. Then Christian Glisson, a senior and a former Lowndes High star playing his final home game, drove a pitch to deep left field. The ball landed three inches inside the left field line, and Jackson and Overstreet raced home to tie the score at 2-2. Glisson took third when the throw from the outfield got away from the cut-off man. One out later, Bryant Hayman lined a single into center field, and Glisson crossed home plate to give his team a 3-2 lead.
West Florida tied the score in the top of the sixth. Korey Domenick walked to start the inning and went to third on Blake Barber’s single to right. Garrett Flynn laid down a safety squeeze bunt, and Domenick scored to make it 3-3.
Then the Argonauts took the lead in the top of the eighth. Huggins started the inning with a double to right center, was bunted to third and scored when Barber hit a sacrifice fly to left.
But the Blazers answered with a run in the bottom of the eighth, and tied the score again. Chaz Bagwell led off with a single to center and stole second. With one out, Jackson lined a single to right, and Bagwell slid home to tie the score at 4-4.
But in the top of the ninth, West Florida scored the final two runs of the game, and earned the win.
For West Florida, Rodriguez, Saulmon and Huggins had two hits apiece. Parker (3-1) earned the win in relief.
Bagwell was the only Blazer with multiple hits, going 2 for 4. Glisson had two RBIs.
VSU used four pitchers Sunday. Dom Demasi gave up two runs, one earned, and four hits in three innings. Benjamin Weil limited the Argonauts to one run and three hits in four innings. Zach John (3-2) gave up two runs, one earned, in 1 1/3 innings, and took the loss. Groves got the final two outs and yielded an unearned run.
It was Senior Day at Billy Grant Field. Before the game, VSU’s seven seniors were recognized.
“Those guys have hung in there. They’ve had a lot of persistence. I’m proud of that,” Guilliams said. “Hopefully the best part of their season is still yet to come.”
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West Florida scores 2 in the 9th, beats VSU
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