LIVINGSTON, Ala. | The No. 8 University of Alabama in Huntsville baseball team used some late-game heroics to top Valdosta State on Saturday afternoon by a score of 6-4 in the opening game of the 2015 Gulf South Conference Tournament at Tartt Field, hosted by West Alabama. UAH is now 36-9-1, while VSU dips to 28-18.

Freshman Ben Rhodes delivered the clutch base hit on Saturday for the Chargers with the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth, as the Harvest, Alabama native blooped a two-run double down the left-field line to score both Brandon Lawing and Trey Mathis and give UAH a 6-4 lead.

Senior Daniel Koger made the start on the mound for fifth-year head coach Hunter Royer, and the lefty worked 7.0 innings with three runs allowed, three walks and six strikeouts before being removed after one batter in the eighth.

Both teams went scoreless through the initial five full innings, but Valdosta State ended that streak in the sixth with back-to-back RBI singles by Kevin Cruz and Jayk Graham to take a 2-0 lead.

However, after Chandler Brock and AJ Walden reached consecutively in the bottom half, GSC Player of the Year Colton Simbeck sent a three-run homer – his 15th of the season – to left to put the Chargers ahead 3-2. Lawing would later score on an errant throw by VSU second baseman Hayden Jones to make it 4-2 UAH after six full.

Valdosta State fought back to tie it at 4-4 in the top of the eighth with back-to-back solo home runs by Mike Reed and Michael Gouge, with one homer apiece allowed by Koger and reliever Luke Mould.

Rhodes put UAH back ahead with his two-run double, before Mould ended the game with a scoreless ninth to make the Chargers a 6-4 winner. Mould earned the win and improved to 5-2.

UAH banged out 10 base hits on the afternoon, with Ben Hall, Lawing and Rhodes leading the way with two hits each. Lawing paced the Blue and White with two runs scored, while Simbeck had a team-high three RBI.

The Chargers look ahead to a 7 p.m. matchup Sunday against the winner of West Georgia and West Florida, which is slated to begin at 7 p.m. tonight at Tartt Field. For more information on the 2015 GSC Championships, click here.­