VALDOSTA — It was a beautiful Winter-Spring day as the Valdosta State Blazers (4-2) defeated the Thomas Night Hawks (5-7), 6-1. There was a lot of offense on the day, but most of it was on the part of the Blazers.

“We still need some more offense, but the bottom line is a win is a win,” said coach Tommy Thomas after the game.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way the whole team has been playing since last Wednesday.”

It was a rough first inning for the Blazers’ starting pitcher Brad Altone, walking one and giving up one hit and one run. After that, he was near perfect. Altone pitched until the sixth inning, giving up only two hits, striking out two, and no runs.

“I can’t say enough about our pitching staff. We’ve put in a lot of pitchers so far this season, and I haven’t seen a bad one yet,” said Thomas.

The Blazers were down 1-0 until the bottom of the third when the VSU offense stepped up. Nick Phillips and Alberto Castellon singled back-to-back, then each stole a base. Kohle Paul grounded to short and was thrown out, but Phillips was able to score to tie the game. Justin Hill came up next and shot one into left field for the RBI single. At the end of the inning, the Blazers were up 2-1.

“Everything looks fat. I’ve been working on getting that fastball all off-season,” said Hill after the game.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth when the VSU offense again stepped it up. Castellon started the inning by getting walked and stealing second, then Paul came up and got walked to first. In stepped Hill, who ripped a double to score Castellon and almost Paul, but he was thrown out at the plate.

Chris Harris added the second RBI of the inning with a sacrifice fly to drive in Hill. At the end of the fifth, the Blazers were up 4-1.

“In the dugout, someone said, ‘Man, he’s (Hill) hot.’ I said he’s not hot, he’s a good hitter. We need more hitters,” said Thomas.

VSU added some insurance in the sixth inning. Brooker and Hicks both singled to right to start the inning. A wild pitch brought in Brooker and advanced Hicks to third after he stole second.

A single up the middle by Castellon brought in Hicks, and the score at the end of the sixth was 6-1, VSU on top.

Altone (1-0) got the win going five innings, allowing two hits and striking out three. Dunn (2-2) got the loss for Thomas.

Hill had a career night going 3-for-3, 2 RBI, 1 run, 1 BB. Castellon went 2-for-4 with 2 runs and 1 RBI.