BOX SCORE | UPDATED STATISTICS
GSC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
OXFORD, Ala. – Valdosta State hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 11th to defeat UWF, 13-12, in the opening round of the Gulf South Conference Tournament at Choccolocco Park on Friday.
UWF (22-23) falls into the loser's bracket and will face Montevallo (36-15) on Saturday at 10 a.m. in an elimination game.
The back-and-forth game was played in 20 mile per hour winds and saw six lead changes as each team used four pitchers.
The Blazer pinch hitter's heroics were needed when UWF got a dramatic long ball of its own in the ninth.
Tyler Dowdy led off the top-half of the final inning with a solo blast to left center that tied the game at 10-10.
Two frames later,
Dean Hotz hit a chopper through the left side of the infield to drive in two and push the Argonauts ahead 12-10.
UWF finished with 18 base hits and had three home runs, including the first of the season for
Trent Jeffcoat. He led off the game with a barreled-up opposite-field fly ball that carried in the wind over the left field wall. Later in the inning,
Josh Prizina hit a high popup that swirled around and landed 15 feet in front of home plate to score
Cullan O'Shea for a 2-0 lead.
The Blazers scored a run in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth to grab a 4-2 lead.
Both offenses exploded in the seventh inning as they combined to score 13 runs. UWF had seven runs on six hits, with the big swings coming on a 2-run double by Dowdy and a 20run home run by
Alden Davis that extended the lead to 9-4.
VSU answered with six runs to grab a 10-9 lead they held until Dowdy's shot in the ninth.
Chase Wilkerson (3-3) suffered the loss after working 3.1 innings. J.J. Finn (5-3) earned the win after allowing two inherited runs to score in the 11th.
Dowdy led all players with four hits and drove in three. Jeffcoat had three hits and joined Dowdy, O'Shea and Davis with two runs scored each.
