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.
Local Sports
Blazers end losing ways, hammer Georgia Southwestern
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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 take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
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Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
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Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
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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.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
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. -
Lowndes’ Willis, Breit named Region 1 Coaches of the Year
The All-Region 1-AAAAAA soccer teams were announced Wednesday and Lowndes was well represented.
Lowndes coaches Chris Willis (girls) and Jordan Breit (boys) were named the Region Coaches of the Year, after leading the Lowndes teams to region championships and going undefeated in region play. -
Vikings commit 4 errors, fall to Roswell, 5-2
The small things matter in baseball, especially in a winner-take-all game three.
On Wednesday, Lowndes’ baseball team made too many mistakes on the little things. The Vikings committed four errors that led to five Roswell runs and were eliminated in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets. - More Local Sports Headlines
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