CARROLTON, GA – Clint Carr‘s run-scoring single in the top of the seventh inning propelled Valdosta State to a 5-4 victory over West Georgia in Gulf South Conference baseball action at Cole Field Sunday afternoon.
The Blazers (22-16, 13-12) entered the seventh inning with a 4-3 lead and saw its first two batters of the inning retired. With two outs in the frame, Cooper Lemonds singled and was lifted for pinch-runner Dominique Smedley. Smedley stole second before Michael Gouge drew a walk to bring Carr to the plate. The sophomore catcher laced a base hit into left-centerfield to drive home Smedley for the game-winning run.
West Georgia (14-25, 9-14) stateged a rally in the bottom of the seventh as, with one out, Shaquille Jackson singled and Jake Shirley walked. Zakk White replaced Blazer starter Dom DeMasi and was greeted by a double to centerfield by Sumner McWhorter that scored Jackson from second. However, Shirley was thrown out at the plate on the play and White induced a foul out from the next batter to preserve the VSU lead.
The Wolves got a runner on second with two outs in the eighth and a pair of runners on with only one out in the ninth, but were thwarted by the VSU bullpen in both instances.
Valdosta State took advantage of a pair of UWG errors in the first inning to score two unearned runs before surrendering a run on a triple and a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning. The Wolves evened the game at 2-2 on a McWhorter RBI single in the bottom of the third only to have the Blazers add two more runs in the top of the fifth.
Stewart Knight opened the VSU half of the fifth with a single and moved to second two batters later when Jimmy Dowdell reached on a bunt single. A fielder’s choice erased Dowdell and put Knight on third and Bryant Hayman on first, allowing Knight to score when Matthew Fears singled. Kevin Cruz was hit by a pitch to load the bases while Lemonds drew a walk to force home Hayman for a 4-2 Valdosta State lead.
West Georgia added its final run in the bottom of the fifth.
DeMasi allowed four runs, three earned, on four hits and five walks to improve to 6-3 on the season. The junior also tied a career-best with nine strikeouts. Jared Stanley recorded the game’s final two outs to pick up his fifth save of the year. Meanwhile, UWG’s Jamie Sexton surrendered nine hits and four runs, only two earned, in 5.1 innings to fall to 2-7.
Dowdell was 3-for-4 with a run scored to lead Valdosta State offensively on the day while Fears went 2-of-4 with a run scored and one driven in.
Valdosta State returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Milledgeville, Ga. to face Georgia College at 5:00 p.m.
Source: Valdosta State University
