Christian Malone
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State’s baseball team split its first two home games of the season on Saturday against Saint Leo.
The Blazers lost the first game 7-5, but rebounded to win the second game 5-2 at Billy Grant Field.
In game 2, Brett Kennedy pitched a complete game, limiting Saint Leo to five hits and two runs. Kennedy (1-1) struck out seven batters.
“Brett pitched how I thought he was going to pitch when we recruited him,” Valdosta State head coach Greg Guilliams said. “He had one bad inning down at Florida Tech (last week), but he was sharp tonight. He was able to get all four of his pitches over for strikes, and I thought he was pretty dominant.”
Valdosta State grabbed the early lead with two runs in the bottom of the second, and never relinquished it.
Jake Summers led off the bottom of the second with a single to center. After singles by Bobby Triglia and Chaz Bagwell loaded the bases, Antonio Clark reached on an error, and Summers and Triglia scored to give VSU a 2-0 lead.
VSU’s Austin Smith made it 3-0 with a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth.
The Lions responded with two runs in the top of the fifth. Ryan Powers doubled to lead off the inning, and scored on Kory Wan’s two-out double. Ryan Brnovich followed with an RBI single, cutting VSU’s lead to 3-2.
But the Blazers came back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Jon Koenigsfeld singled with one out and moved to second on Brandon Decker’s single. Jordan Yost followed with an RBI single, bringing home Koenigsfeld. Decker moved to third on a Summers single and scored when Smith was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. That gave the Blazers a 5-2 lead, and Kennedy shut down the Lions the rest of the way.
At the plate, Chaz Bagwell went 2-for-3. Smith drove in a pair of runs.
Aaron Brandt (0-1) took the loss for Saint Leo, giving up nine hits and five runs in 4.2 innings.
Game 1: Saint Leo 7, VSU 5
Saint Leo broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, and won the first game, 7-5.
“It was a game we could have won. We just made too many mistakes defensively, and when you’re struggling to swing the bat, you can’t do that,” Guilliams said. “We just aren’t swinging the bats well enough to overcome that.”
Saint Leo (1-1) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in game 1. In the top of the first inning, J.C. Suarez reached on an error, moved to third on a walk and a ground out and scored on a balk by VSU starting pitcher Ross Gusky to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
In the second inning, Saint Leo’s Ware Hart walked, stole second and came home on a Wan single, making it 2-0.
The Lions added two more runs in the fourth. Gusky walked the bases full, then struck out Wan for the first out. Brnovich hit a potential double play ground ball to short, but second baseman Don DiPetta was unable to get the ball out of his glove to make the relay throw to first, and Powers scored. Then Suarez beat out a bunt to plate Hart and make it 4-0.
Valdosta State (1-2) rallied for four runs, and tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. Koenigsfeld was hit by a pitch to open the inning and Brandon Decker singled to left. Jake Summers lined a double to center to plate Koenigsfeld, then Decker came home on Clayton Cain’s ground out to short. Smith was hit by a pitch to put two men on, then Yost singled home Summers. Jordan Hollis walked to load the bases, then Smith scored on a balk to tie the game at 4-4.
Saint Leo regained the lead in the seventh. Suarez’s single plated Wan, then Brnovich scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Hamm, giving Saint Leo a 6-4 lead.
Summers’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh scored Koenigsfeld to make it 6-5, but the Lions added an insurance run in the top of the eighth, making the final score 7-5.
VSU freshman Kyle Rowe (0-1) surrendered three hits and two runs, only one of which was earned, in three innings of relief. Gusky allowed three earned runs in four innings.
“Ross Gusky, I thought his stuff was good. He fell behind, he had a few too many walks, and put us in some bad situations,” Guilliams said. “I was very happy with how Kyle Rowe pitched. I thought Kyle showed a lot of composure, especially (in) his first college outing.”
Henry Johnson (1-0) was the winning pitcher. Marshall Stalvey picked up the save.
Summers recorded four hits, two runs and two RBIs in the doubleheader, while Decker finished the day with three hits and two runs scored.
Valdosta State hosts Georgia Southwestern at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
