CARROLLTON, Ga. — The No. 19 Valdosta State baseball team defeated West Georgia 16-3, in eight innings, in its first game of weekend away series.
The Blazers improved to 22-8 overall and 13-5 in the Gulf South Conference while the Wolves fell to 16-15 overall and 7-11 in the GSC.
The series will conclude tomorrow, Saturday, April 9, with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
The Wolves got on the board in the first with three runs crossing home plate, but the Blazer defense held them scoreless the remainder of the game.
Valdosta State added two in the third and one in the fourth to tie the contest. Junior Orlando Adams and freshman Cory McCann scored in the third from a single up the middle from junior Jose Crisostomo Bock and redshirt senior Luke Ard got on from a free pass in the fourth and scored from a single by McCann.
The Blazers had a big fifth inning as they scored five to take the lead for good. Junior Ryan Romano, Bock, junior EJ Doskow, Ard, and sophomore Jacob Harper all crossed home plate for the Blazers to make the score 8-3.
Valdosta State added two more in the sixth from a two run home run by Doskow and six more in the eighth for a 16-3 lead.
The Blazers tallied a season high of 20 hits along with one home run, 13 RBI, eight free passes, and one error.
Leading the Blazer offense was Ard going 4-5 with three runs scored, one RBI, and one free pass.
Following behind was Harper and Crisostomo Bock. Harper went 3-4 with two RBI, one run scored, and one free pass. Crisostomo Bock went 3-5 with three runs scored, one RBI, and one free pass.
Starting on the mound for the Blazers was senior Elijah Gill as he threw seven innings and recorded the win for the Blazers (7-1). Gill tallied six strikeouts and gave up six hits, three earned runs, and four free passes.
Junior Zach Henderson relieved Gill and threw one inning and recorded one strikeout to finish the game.
