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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The University of Alabama in Huntsville baseball team (22-18, 11-7 GSC) travels to Valdosta, Ga., this weekend for a three-game series against league-leading No. 28 Valdosta State (20-12, 10-4 GSC) in a battle of the top two teams in the Gulf South Conference. The crucial series begins with a doubleheader at Billy Grant Field on Saturday, April 14, at 1 p.m. CDT, while the teams will return for game three on Sunday, April 15, at noon.
UAH enters the weekend with the most conference victories on the year with 11 wins, though Valdosta State with 10 wins is technically the GSC leader due to league winning percentage. The Chargers have won four of their last six games, but dropped their last series two games to one to then No. 25 West Florida. UAH lost the first game of the series, 4-2, before taking the nightcap of a doubleheader by a score of 8-2. UWF then claimed the rubber game in 10 innings, 3-2.
Grant DeBruin continues to lead UAH offensively, now hitting .389 for the season after batting 6-for-11 (.545) with a double and three RBI last weekend. DeBruin also leads the GSC in several categories, with 58 hits, seven home runs, 36 RBI, 94 total bases and ranks second in the league with 13 doubles. Also hitting over .300 on the year is Eric Deese, Justin Pearson, Ty Chancelor and Justin Riddle.
The GSC's second-best pitching staff with a 3.32 ERA is led by Drew Eiland who carries a record of 4-3 and 2.95 ERA. Eiland threw 9.0 innings in a loss last week, despite allowing just four runs on 11 hits and three strikeouts.
Having claimed each GSC series the team has played this season, Valdosta State enters the weekend 20-12 overall and 10-4 in league play. The Blazers are hitting a league-high .324 for the season, led by the two highest batting-averages in the GSC. Christian Glisson and Cameron Graves rank first and second in the conference, hitting at a clip of .429 and .394 this year. Glisson is among a three-way tie atop the conference with seven home runs, and leads the GSC with 15 doubles on the year.
The Blazers' pitching staff carries a 3.89 ERA, while holding opponents to a .247 average. VSU is allowing 4.6 runs and just 7.7 hits per outing. Leading the effort on the hill is Kevin Rogers (3-2) who has an ERA of 2.19, allowing just 15 earned runs in 61.2 innings of work and has tallied 48 strikeouts.
In a series that has been contested each year since the inception of the UAH program in 1996, this weekend's games between the Chargers and Valdosta State will mark the 49th, 50th and 51st games played between the two schools. VSU holds a slim 26-22 advantage in the series overall, as the Blazers have taken 11 of the last 15 contests in the series. In addition, UAH will be aiming for its first series victory over VSU as the Chargers last claimed a season series during the 2003 season. UAH is 10-14 all-time versus the Blazers when playing in Valdosta, including two series victories in 1999 (3-0) and 2000 (2-1).
After this weekend, UAH will return home for a five-game homestand to close out the regular season. The Chargers first welcome Alabama A&M to Charger Park on April 17 for a single game contest set to begin at 6 p.m. CDT.
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