Valdosta State Wins GSC Championship

Blazers Beat Southern Arkansas, 20-10

CLEVELAND, Miss. - Valdosta State rebounded from a 19-2 loss in the first game to win 20-10 in game two to claim the 2010 Gulf South Championship.

Southern Arkansas (43-8) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the championship game as it plated a run in the bottom of the first inning. Andrew Whittington doubled to open the inning and moved to third when Nick Paschal. Cannon Lester followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Whittington.

Valdosta State (42-15) evened the game at 1-1 in the second as Josh Vining hit a sacrifice fly only to have Chris Harrison hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to put SAU back in front by a run.

The Blazers claimed the lead in the third as they plated five runs. Ryan Danbury singled to open the frame and moved to third when Jon Koenigfeld doubled. Brandon Decker followed with a home run to left-center field to score both base runners and Clayton Cain doubled. After a strikeout, Jordan Yost singled to plate Cain and Vining walked. A wild pitch and two passed balls allowed Yost to score to give VSU a 6-2 lead.

Whittington hit his fourth homer of the year in the bottom of the third to cut the VSU advantage to three runs, but Valdosta State responded with three more runs in the fourth. Koenigsfeld reached on a fielder's choice and scored with two outs when Cain doubled. Austin Smith drew a walk to put two base runners and a wild pitch moved both base runners into scoring position. Yost proceeded to single to score both base runners for a 9-3 VSU lead.

Lester added his second RBI of the game in the fourth when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth, but Cain answered with his 17th home run of year, a roundtripper that plated Danbury and Decker, in the fifth to push the Valdosta State lead to 12-4.

Southern Arkansas took advantage of a VSU error in the sixth to score two runs, but Cain answered with a three-run home run in the seventh and sparked a five-run eighth with a grand slam to finish out the Blazer scoring.

Patrick Johnson added a home run for SAU in the eighth as the Muleriders plated four runs in the frame.

Ross Gusky started for VSU and allowed seven hits and four run in four and two-third innings while Jeremy Forbus earned his ninth victory, against just one loss, after allowing fourth hits and five runs in two and two-thirds innings.

Valdosta State struck first in the first game as Decker ended a streak of 49 at-bats without a home run with his 18th roundtripper of the year.

Southern Arkansas claimed the lead with nine runs in the second inning, a frame in which it sent 12 men to the plate and hit two home runs, before adding three more in the fourth on Logan Williams' second home run of the day to claim a 12-1 advantage.

The Muleriders added two more runs on Patrick Johnson's second homer of the day in the fifth before scoring five more in the sixth. Jake Summers broke up the Mulerider scoring with a solo home run in the fifth to establish a 19-2 SAU lead.

Chad Yinger earned the victory in the game as he allowed just six hits and two runs in a complete game effort to improve to 4-0. Brett Kennedy surrendered eight hits and nine runs in two innings to fall to 7-4 for VSU.

Cain led VSU offensively on the day as he had six hits, eight RBI and five runs. Yost, Danbury and Decker all tallied four hits in the two games.

Valdosta State advances to the NCAA South Regional Tournament next week. The Blazers will await word on their seed and location of the tournament, the announcement of which will be on Monday.

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