Valdosta State pitcher Jeremy Adams (6) delivers during Game 1 of a doubleheader against Embry-Riddle Saturday afternoon.

VALDOSTA – Coming off a 2-1 weekend, the Valdosta State baseball team hosts Albany State Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park, while it then will open Gulf South Conference play with a three-game home series versus Mississippi College Friday and Saturday.

Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page. The games will be broadcast on the radio on 94.3 WJEM FM and foxsportsvaldosta.com with Bill Malone having the call. Friday’s game is set for a 5 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Blazers enter at 4-2 overall with wins last weekend over Florida Tech and Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, Fla. VSU won the season series with ERAU 3-1 with the 11-2 victory on Saturday, while it split two games against Florida Tech, winning Friday 4-2 in walk-off fashion and losing 14-1 on Sunday.

For the season, the Blazers are hitting .270 on 53 of 196 from the dish. VSU has scored 35 runs with nine doubles, two triples, three home runs and driven in 29. The Blazers are 11 of 14 in stolen bases and have walked 17 times, earning seven free passes by hit batsmen. Junior Jacob Harper leads the team with a .500 average on 7 of 14 from the plate with two runs scored, two doubles and six RBI. Graduate student Jakob Sessa has a team-high ten hits in 23 at bats (.435) with three runs scored and one RBI, while he is 3 for 3 in stolen bases. Graduate student JP Gates is 6 of 24 from the plate with two doubles and six RBI. Three different Blazers each have one home run.

On the bump, senior Kevin Tomas has pitched a team-high 12.2 innings with a 1.42 ERA and a 1-0 record in two starts. He has allowed nine hits, three runs – two earned, walked one and fanned eight as teams are hitting .191 against him. Sophomore JJ Finn is 1-1 on the year, while freshman Anthony Martens is 1-0 and Gates is 1-0. Graduate student Jeremy Adams is 0-1 in 7.1 innings of work with a team-high nine strikeouts, while sophomore Zach Dodson has a 1.08 ERA in two starts for 8.1 innings, allowing seven hits, two runs – one earned, walked two and fanned eight. The staff has a 4.06 ERA in 51 innings of work, allowing 59 hits, 32 runs – 23 earned, walked 19 and fanned 48 as teams are hitting .276 against it.

VSU moved from eighth to fourth in this week’s NCBWA South Region Top Ten. Tampa leads this week’s rankings, followed by Montevallo, West Florida, VSU and Barry is fifth. Nova Southeastern is sixth, followed by Rollins, Palm Beach Atlantic, Spring Hill and Lynn rounds out the top ten. Nationally speaking,

Albany State enters the game with a 1-1 record as it lost its season-opener to Columbus State (-1) and defeated Auburn Montgomery 7-0 on Feb. 9. ASU is hitting .150 for the season on 9 of 60 from the plate with eight runs scored, two home runs and eight RBI. The opposition is hitting .197 with 12 hits in 61 at bats, scoring four runs with one double, three home runs and four RBI. Luke Addison and Hill Corley lead the team with three hits apiece, while Addison has two runs scored, one home run and one RBI. Jeremiah Reddell is 1-0 with 0.00 ERA in six innings, allowing four hits, walked one and fanned three. The staff boasts a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings, allowing 12 hits, four earned runs, walked eight and fanned 11. Head coach Scot Hemmings is in his seventh season at the helm of the program with a 132-101 record. ASU has seven players earn Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) All-Preseason honors with Reddell and Nathan Lloyd earning first team honors and five selections to the second team. ASU finished 32-16 overall last season and 24-5 in the SIAC.

The Blazers have won 15 of the last 20 meetings in the series and won 7-1 on Mar. 10, 2020, in Albany, Ga., in the last meeting. The teams have split the last four meetings and prior to that, VSU had won six-straight. Sessa is the lone returning Blazer who played in the previous meeting, going 0 for 3 with an RBI.

Mississippi College enters the week 1-6 overall after losing three games at top-ranked North Greenville last weekend and a 23-3 victory last Tuesday at Miles College. The Choctaws will host Henderson State (Ark.) on Tuesday, before heading to Titletown for the GSC-opening series.

The Choctaws lost three games at home to open the season versus Arkansas-Monticello and are hitting .213 for the season with 47 hits in 221 at bats, while scoring 48 runs with eight doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 41 RBI. The Choctaws are 13 of 14 in stolen bases and have drawn 44 walks and 11 hit batsmen in the seven games to this point. Caleb Reese leads the team with a .286 average on 6 of 21 from the dish. He has two home runs and a team-high eight RBI. Bridley Thomas is second in average at .263 as he is one of four players with five hits, along with one double, two home runs and five RBI. Kyle Collet leads the team with 12 innings pitched, allowing nine hits, 11 runs – nine earned, walked nine and fanned nine. Collet and Gavin LeBlanc lead the team with a 6.75 ERA, while Cooper Gadman has an 8.49 ERA with one complete game in 11.2 innings of work.

MC was picked tenth in the preseason GSC poll and had three players named to the GSC Watchlist in Thomas, Collet and JT Vance. Head coach Jeremy Haworth is in his eighth season at the helm of the Choctaws. He is 143-161 there and is in his 12th season of coaching for a 245-256-1 record with four seasons at Ouachita Baptist (2011-2015).

Following the games this week, the Blazers begin an eight-game road trip at Saint Leo on Feb. 21. VSU’s next home game is scheduled for Mar. 7 at 5 p.m., versus Georgia College.