VALDOSTA, Ga. – No. 22 Valdosta State used a six-run second inning to defeat the Savannah College of Art and Design 11-5 in non-conference baseball action at Grayson Stadium Wednesday afternoon.

SCAD (6-6) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning as Mark Stewart led off by reaching on a fielding error by Austin Smith and eventually scored on a two-out single by Mike Hines, only to have the Blazers (10-3) respond with the big second inning.

Smith singled to open the VSU second and moved to second when Jordan Yost walked before a Jon Koenigsfeld single and an error allowed Smith to score. Galen Smith walked to load the bases and Yost scored when Josh Higginbotham also drew a free pass while Antonio Clark tripled to left-center to clear the bases. Brandon Decker proceeded to single through the right-side of the infield to plate Clark, giving Valdosta State a 6-1 advantage.

The Bees got three runs back in the fourth to cut their deficit to 6-4. Shane Yoder and Matt Zajac hit back-to-back singles to open the inning before Cason Mobley relieved Tyler Wooten. Will Cioffi greeted Mobley with a base hit to left that plated Yoder before a sacrifice bunt moved both base runners into scoring position. A John-Michael Crawford base hit plated Zajac and Stewart doubled to drive home Crawford to cut the Blazer lead to two runs.

The Blazers responded with two runs in the fifth, with Galen Smith and Don DiPetta picking up RBIs, while the Bees added their final run in the eighth on a Zajac RBI fielder’s choice. Austin Smith hit a two-run single in the ninth to close out the scoring.

Kyle Rowe picked up the victory, improving to 2-1 on the season, as he struck out two batters in the second inning, in a game that saw six Blazer pitchers throw a pre-determined amount of innings. Yost earned his second save after giving up one hit and one run while striking out three in three innings on the mound.

Clark finished just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle for the Blazers as he tallied a double, triple and single in his first four plate appearances on the day. Austin Smith also finished with three hits for VSU while Koenigsfeld had two.

Scott Shambaugh (0-1) took the loss as he surrendered four hits and four walks as well as all six runs in the second inning. Yoder and Zajac tallied two hits each to lead SCAD offensively.

The Blazers return to action Friday, February 26 when they open a three-game series at No. 15 Tampa. Friday’s game is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. first pitch while Saturday’s doubleheader will start at 1:00 p.m.