Valdosta State head baseball coach Greg Guilliams applauds from the dugout during Game 1 of a doubleheader against Lee Sunday at Billy Grant Field.

VALDOSTA – The Valdosta State baseball team continues an eight-game home stand with Gulf South Conference foe, West Alabama in three-game series, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday, Apr. 7 at 3 p.m., followed by a single game at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Apr. 8 at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park

Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the baseball schedule page. Friday’s games will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM and talk91.com, while Saturday’s game will be on 94.3 WJEM FM and foxsportsvaldosta.com. Both days Bill Malone will have the call.

The Blazers enter the week with a 21-9 record overall and a 12-6 mark in GSC play. VSU sits one game back of league leaders Montevallo and West Georgia in league play (13-5). West Florida, Alabama Huntsville and Delta State sit two games back of VSU at 10-8 in league play.

VSU rallied for an all-time classic win over No. 2 Tampa Tuesday evening as Valdosta State sophomore Trent Lewis blasted a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 11th to post a 15-14, come-from-behind victory to sweep the season series with the Spartans. Lewis, who normally plays in the infield, pitched the 11th inning and worked out of a bases loaded jam and had his biggest strikeout of his life, fanning UT’s J.D. Erso to end the inning. Urso finished the game 3 for 7, scored four runs, drove in two and hit one home run. In the bottom of the inning, and with the international tiebreaker rule in effect and junior Preston Joye at second, Lewis laced a double to center, plating Joye for the walk-off victory. Offensively, the Blazers were led by three players who each collected three hits in the game. Graduate student JP Gates was 3 for 5 with two runs scored, two RBI and a walk, while he blasted a home run. Sophomore Jovanni Canegitta was 3 for 5 with three runs scored, a double and two RBI, while senior Bryson Gandy was 3 for 5 with three runs scored, a huge home run and five RBI. Along with Urso, Jamarcus Lyons was 4 for 5 with two runs scored, and two RBI.

For West Alabama this season, the team is hitting .271 for the season with a 15-18 record overall and a 11-10 mark in the Gulf South Conference. The Tigers have scored 184 runs with 286 hits, 54 doubles, two triples, 27 home runs and 161 RBI. UWA is 27 of 40 in stolen bases, while drawing 94 free passes. The staff holds a 5.92 ERA in 264.2 innings of work as teams are hitting .268 against it. The team has allowed 281 hits, 212 runs, walked 170 and fanned 238.

Individually, Michael Rich leads the team with a .373 average as he is 26 of 126 from the dish with 26 runs scored for second on the team, nine doubles, nine home runs and a team-high 31 RBI. Blake Vineyard is second in average at a .333 clip on 31 of 93 from the plate. He has scored 16 runs with 4 doubles and two home runs, while driving in 11. Colden Peeples is hitting .292 for the season with 28 hits, 17 runs scored, three doubles, one home run and 16 RBI. He is 9 of 12 in stolen bases to lead the team. On the bump, Jacob Smith leads the team in innings pitched at 56.2 as he has a team-high 82 strikeouts in eight starts.

VSU has won 16 of the last 30 in the series and have won six of the last ten. Valdosta State last took on UWA in March 2021 when VSU swept UWA in Valdosta.

The Blazers continue at home next week as they will host Georgia Southwestern for a single, beginning Tuesday at 5 p.m.