PENSACOLA, Fla. (vstateblazers.com) — The Valdosta State baseball team split its Saturday doubleheader with West Florida to take the series win 2-1. The Argos won the opener 11-0, but the Blazers battled back for an 11-0 victory in the nightcap.
The Blazers improved to 28-12 overall and 17-9 in the Gulf South Conference while the Argos moved to 21-19 overall and 15-10 in the GSC.
Game One (UWF 11 – VSU 0)
The Argos got on board first in the first inning with one run and added another in the third for a 2-0 score.
The Blazers left runners on base in every inning except the fifth but were still unable to get any runs across home plate.
The Argos had a huge fifth inning adding seven more runs and putting up two more in the sixth. UWF won 11-0 in seven innings.
Valdosta State tallied five hits and four free passes. Leading the Blazer offense was junnior Ryan Romano and redshirt senior Luke Ard. Romano went 2-3 and Ard went 2-2 with one free pass. The only other hit for the Blazers was recorded by junior Jose Crisostomo Bock.
Starting on the mound for the Blazers was junior Kevin Tomas. Tomas threw 4.2 innings and recorded four strikeouts and gave up seven hits, eight earned runs and walked three. Tomas recorded the loss for the Blazers (2-1). Also throwing for Valdosta State was junior Mason Sharp and sophomore Scott Curran.
Game Two (VSU 11 – UWF 0)
Valdosta State got on board first inning with one run in the second and had a huge third inning as it tallied six runs in the frame. Senior Jisjar Clotida hit a grand slam down the right field line and scored junior EJ Doskow, Bock, and Romano. Sophomore Jacob Harper and junior David Crawford also scored for the Blazers for a 7-0 lead.
The Valdosta State defense held off the Argos for the remainder of the game as the Blazer offense added four more runs in the sixth.
Doskow and Clotida scored from a single to center field by Harper as he and Crawford were drove in by a single from freshman Ryan Villaman to bring the score to 11-0.
Valdosta State outhit West Florida 13-2 and recorded two doubles, one home run, 10 RBI, one stolen base, and six free passes.
Leading the Blazer offense was Crawford going 4-4 with one double and three runs scored. Following behind was Doskow going 2-3 and Clotida going 2-5. Doskow recorded two runs scored and two walks while Clotida tallied four RBI, one double, one home run, and two runs scored.
On the mound for the Blazers was junior Brandon Raiden throwing all seven innings and recording the win (6-1) and his first shutout of the season. Raiden tallied seven strikeouts and gave up two hits and one free pass.
The Blazers are back in action to finish out the regular season with a midweek matchup against Flagler College on Wednesday, April 27, at 6 p.m., at Billy Grant Field at Tommy Thomas Park.
For all information on Blazer baseball visit vstateblazers.com or follow Valdosta State Athletics on social media.
