A game after collecting a season high 21 hits, Valdosta State pounded out 19 and withstood a ninth inning rally by Columbus State as the Blazers defeated the Cougars 14-13 in non-conference baseball action at Ragsdale Field Wednesday evening.

With the win, Valdosta State improved to 24-16 while Columbus State fell to 28-19.

Valdosta State opened the scoring in the top of the first inning as VSU plated a pair of runs. Buster Jackson singled to open the game before being erased on a Marc Overstreet fielder’s choice. Christian Glisson doubled to put two runners on before Cameron Graves grounded out to score Overstreet. Bryant Hayman followed with a single to right to score Glisson for a 2-0 VSU lead.

Columbus State grabbed the lead in the bottom of the inning as Eric Weiss hit a three-run home run before pushing its advantage to 6-2 in the bottom of the second inning. Two of the three runs in the frame were unearned as Logan Dollar scored after a throwing error on a fielder’s choice put two runners on base while J.D. Pullen drove in a second run with a ground out and Navarro Hall hit a sacrifice fly to push the Cougar lead to four runs.

The Blazers got a run back in the third when Hayman drove home Glisson on a ground out before scoring three more in the fourth to even the contest. After Austin Lawrence opened the fourth with a single, Jackson reached on a one-out single before Glisson hit a two-out ground ball to short stop that was misplayed to allow Lawrence to score. Graves followed with a base hit to drive home Jackson while a throwing error on the throw home on the play also allowed Glisson to score to even the game at 6-6.

VSU took advantage of the third CSU error of the game to regain the lead in the fifth inning. With one out in the fifth, Chad Grant and Lawrence hit back-to-back singles. Steven Groves followed with a ground ball to short that allowed Lawrence to be retired, but the throw to first on the potential double play sailed high to plate Grant for a 7-6 Valdosta State advantage.

The Blazers added five more runs to their lead in the seventh inning as four straight batters reached base with one out. Ryan Noelte was the first to reach as he singled with one out before Grant was hit by a pitch. Lawrence followed with a single up the middle that loaded the bases while Groves reached on an infield single that scored Noelte. Patrick Devault relieved Columbus State starter Levi Futo and was greeted by a double off the bat of Jackson that scored pinch runner Trent Luman and Lawrence while Overstreet hit a sacrifice fly to score Groves. Glisson followed with a double to left-center that scored Jackson to push the VSU lead to 12-6.

Columbus State got a run back on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the seventh while the Blazers scored their final two in the top of the ninth on a Glisson single. CSU got the game’s final six runs in the bottom of the ninth, including three on the second home run of the game by Weiss.

Freshman Dom Demasi earned his first career victory and improved to 1-0 as he did not allow a hit while pitching three innings in relief. Meanwhile, Futo surrendered 14 hits and 11 runs, seven earned, in 6.1 innings as he fell to 3-3.

Glisson led the Blazers offensively as he was 4 for 6 with three runs scored and three driven in while Jackson was also 4 for 6 with two runs scored and two driven in. Lawrence also had three hits and scored twice while Graves finished with a pair of hits and two driven in.

Valdosta State closes out its 2012 regular season this weekend when it hosts No. 25 West Florida at Billy Grant Field for a three-game Gulf South Conference series. The two teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, followed by a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The Blazer seniors will be honored prior to Sunday’s contest.