FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3-30-04

College Baseball: AASU 8, No. 30 Valdosta State 4

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Senior Brandon McKinnon went 4-for-4 at the plate and two Armstrong Atlantic State relievers held the No. 30-ranked Valdosta State Blazers scoreless over the final five innings to take an 8-4 win on Tuesday afternoon at Pirate Field.

The Pirates (22-14) improved to 5-1 over their last six games, all against nationally-ranked squads, while Valdosta State fell to 18-13 on the season.
AASU led, 3-2, in the top of the fourth inning when Valdosta State’s Robert Morgan greeted the Pirates’ reliever Thomas Ferrara with a two-out single that plated one run and an error by catcher Kyle Maddux allowed another run to score and give the Blazers a 4-3 lead.

Ferrara (3-1) would settle down and blank the Blazers over the next 2 1/3 innings on just one hit and allow the Pirates to come back for the win. AASU struck back with three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead for good as an RBI single by Rob Recuenco scored Steven Kinney, then a double steal by Brandon Nunez and Recuenco scored a second run. Adam Pelley’s RBI single scored Recuenco to put AASU up by two, 6-4.

Josh Tallent then came into the game for the Pirates and he limited the Blazers to just one hit over the final three scoreless innings to pick up his fourth save of the season. AASU added two insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Kinney and an RBI double by Nunez.

Bryan Bennett (3-3) took the loss for the Blazers, giving up eight hits and six runs – three earned – in six innings pitched. Four Blazer players had two hits apiece, led by Morgan, while McKinnon’s four hits led the Pirates.

AASU returns to action on Saturday, April 3, as the Pirates host USC Spartanburg in a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader at Pirate Field beginning at Noon.

-Pirates-