2002 Gulf South Conference 
Baseball Championship
May 4-7, 2002

GSC Tournament Schedule

May 7, 2002
Valdosta State wins GSC Baseball Championship

By Michael Anderson, GSC
Millington, TN—Valdosta State University (41-18) defeated Southern Arkansas University (42-14), 4-2, claiming the 2002 Gulf South Conference Baseball Championship at USA Stadium in Millington, TN.

The Blazers came away with their second GSC Title, first since 1995. The victory was their second over SAU in the Tournament and it pushed their unbeaten mark in the Tournament to 4-0. VSU is the second straight No. 3 East Division seed to win the crown (Alabama-Huntsville won last year).

The Mulerides jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Melvin Falu’s double drove in Ric Prussing. Valdosta State tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the inning on Scott Simpson’s RBI single. VSU posted a 3-1 lead in the third, scoring two on a throwing error by the Southern Arkansas infield.

John Martin’s RBI single in the sixth extended the Blazers’ lead to 4-1. But SAU did not go away without a fight, scoring one in the top of ninth until Corey Wachman locked down the save. Michael Smith posted the victory for Valdosta State.

Harding’s Justin Cone earned Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, leading the Bisons to a 2-2 record in their first-ever GSC Tournament. At the plate, Cone batted .400 (6-for-15) with three homeruns and eight RBI, while on the mound he collected a victory and struck out seven in two appearances and 8.2 innings of work.

A trio of Blazers were named to the All-Tournament Team (Scott Fletcher, Josh Grube and John Rose), while the Muleriders added three of their own (Jay Browning, Falu and Tracey Geffre).

All-Tournament Team - Justin Cone (HU) Most Outstanding Player, Scott Fletcher (VSU), Josh Grube (VSU), John Rose (VSU), Jay Browning (SAU), Melvin Falu (SAU), Tracy Geffre (SAU), Hector Guadulupe (UAH), Eric Smith (DSU), Jeff Cochran (UNA), Bryan Swift (UNA).

May 6, 2002
#13 Southern Arkansas Earns Berth in Finals with 6-1 Win Over #27 Harding

MILLINGTON, TN - Southern Arkansas junior righthander Charlie Downs made the most of his first start of the season, pitching the Muleriders to a 6-1 win over Harding to send SAU to the tournament championship 4 p.m. Tuesday versus Valdosta State.  Downs (3-1) fanned nine and limited the Bison offense to only five hits.

Southern Arkansas (42-13) homered with two out in the top of the first to get the Muleriders off to a 1-0 lead.  Bobby Beason and Garrett Stout also had run scoring hits of Harding starter Mark Connett to put the 'Riders ahead 3-0.

Harding (32-17) got their only run of the game on a Justin Cone solo homer with two outs in the fourth.  The blast was Cone's 11th of the season, tying the Harding single-season record.

Tracy Geffre, John Lenihan, and Clayton Childers each drove in runs for the 'Riders in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead. 

Mark Connett (1-1) took the loss for the Bisons, lasting only one inning.

May 6, 2002
#13 Southern Arkansas Shuts Out, Eliminates #1 Delta State, 2-0

MILLINGTON, TN - Southern Arkansas junior righthander Jay Browning pitched a five-hit, complete game shutout to lead the 13th-ranked Muleriders to a 2-0 win over Delta State, eliminating the top-ranked Statesmen.  SAU (41-13) advances to meet Harding in the 7:30 p.m. game, the winner of which will meet Valdosta State in the finals Tuesday.

Delta State (47-6) was shutout for the first time since Feb. 10 of last season against Abilene Christian, a span of 110 games.  The Statesmen are still in the running for an NCAA Division II South Central Region bid.

Southern Arkansas, which had eight hits, scored their first run in the fifth inning on two Statesmen errors.  With two out, Chris Manley reached on a throwing error and moved to third on a Ric Prussing single.  Prussing was then picked off first and caught in a rundown.  Manley sprinted for home, drawing a throw from Delta State first baseman Steven Tomaszewski whose attempt sailed over the head of catcher Craig Newton to give the Muleriders a 1-0 lead.

SAU's Melvin Falu doubled to lead off the sixth and scored two batters later on a Bobby Beason base hit to center field.

Browning (9-2) needed only 91 pitches in the game and struck out six without allowing a walk.  DSU starter Nathan Price (9-1) suffered his first loss of the season, going 6.0 innings and striking out four. 

May 6, 2002
#25 Valdosta State Advances to Finals, Downs Harding 7-4
MILLINGTON, TN - Valdosta State senior righthander Josh Kitterman pitched a complete game and set down 18-straight Harding batters in one stretch to lead the 25th-ranked Blazers to the finals of the Gulf South Conference Tournament with a 7-4 win over Harding.  The Bisons will meet the winner of the Southern Arkansas/Delta State game for other spot in the finals.

Valdosta State (40-18) scored single runs in the first and second innings on a Josh Grube RBI single and a two-out Josh Veres bunt-hit that plated John Martin.

Harding (32-16) rallied to take a 4-2 lead in the third.  Three of the first four Bison hitters reached on singles, and Morgan Trotter's sacrifice fly brought home Stephen Smith.  Jake Kirby scored on a balk and Justin Cone drove in the final two runs on a two-out liner to right.

Kitterman (9-4) was in control the rest of the way, not allowing a base hit until Kenny Sprenger's two-out single in the ninth.

Valdosta State drew even in the bottom of the fourth with two unearned runs off Harding starter Matt Walter (5-5).  The Blazers strung together five hits and scored three runs in the fifth to take the lead for good.  Martin, Tim Kelly, and Jay Berryman all had RBIs in the inning.  Walter left after 4.1 innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs (four earned).

May 5, 2002
#25 Valdosta State Advances with 4-2 Win Over #15 Southern Arkansas
MILLINGTON, TN - Valdosta State senior right-hander Braxton Fernald pitched a complete game five-hitter and junior catcher Tim Kelly went 3-for-4 with a double to lead the 25th-ranked Blazers to a 4-2 win over #15 Southern Arkansas, Sunday night in the Gulf South Conference Tournament.

The win sends VSU (39-18) to the winner's bracket finals at 12 p.m. against Harding in a matchup of the conference's two third-seeds.  Southern Arkansas (41-12) will meet Delta State in an elimination game at 4 p.m. with the winner facing the loser of the Valdosta State/Harding game at 7:30 p.m.

SAU took a 1-0 lead in the second on a leadoff homer by Tracy Geffre, his 14th of the season.  Valdosta State struck back in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead on a Josh Berryman sacrifice fly and a Kelly RBI single to left.

A Scott Simpson single to center scored David Lewis from second to give the Blazers a 3-1 lead after five.  An SAU throwing error led to Valdosta State's fourth run in the seventh inning.

Southern Arkansas cut the lead to 4-2 in the eighth after George Stricker tripled to lead off the inning and scored on a Ric Prussing sacrifice fly.  The Muleriders went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Jeremy Francis (5-3) took the loss on the mound for SAU, hurling 6.0 innings and allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits.  Chris Fort pitched a scoreless 3.0 innings in relief.  Fernald improved to 9-1 and struck out seven.  

May 5, 2002
Harding Upsets, Eliminates #6 Alabama-Huntsville, 4-2
MILLINGTON, TN - Harding used a combination of five hits and four Alabama-Huntsville errors to send the sixth-ranked Blazers to a 4-2 defeat in the second day of the Gulf South Conference Tournament.  UAH, last year's GSC Tournament champions, were eliminated with the loss.

Harding (32-15) advances to the winner's bracket final to meet the Southern Arkansas/Valdosta State winner.  Alabama-Huntsville (33-12) was the highest ranked team the Bisons have defeated since joining the NCAA in 1997.

Brandon Denison (7-3) earned the win on the mound for Harding, allowing seven hits and two runs.  Freshman Brandon Denison picked up his fifth save, striking out Drew Newsom with the bases loaded to end the game.  UAH starter Kyle Olsen (4-3) pitched a complete game, allowing four runs (one earned) on five hits and fanned nine without walking a batter. 

HU struck first in the bottom of the opening inning on a Ben James RBI double to leftfield.  Jake Kirby's perfectly executed suicide squeeze plated Kenny Sprenger in the second inning to put Harding ahead 2-0.  Stephen Smith reached on a two-base error and later scored on a passed ball to give the Bisons a three-run lead.

A pair of Charger errors in third gave Harding a 4-0 lead.  Freshman Sean Camilleri led off and was hit by a pitch.  He then advanced to second on a passed ball.  Morgan Trotter then looped a basehit to left that fell just in front of UAH leftfielder Ryan Cox.  When Cox's throw back into the infield eluded his teammates, Camilleri took off for third.  UAH starter Kyle Olsen picked up the loose ball, but his throw to third sailed wide and Camilleri came home with Harding's final run of the game.

Alabama-Huntsville's two runs came on a pair of solo home runs from Philip Donaldson in the seventh and Hector Guadalupe in the eighth.  Guadalupe finished the game 4-for-5, collecting half of the Chargers' eight hits.

The Chargers mounted a ninth-inning, two-out rally that began when Justin Barnes walked.  Andy Evans was hit by a pitch before Kimbrough relieved Denison.  Guadalupe laced his fourth hit of the game to load the bases, but Kimbrough's strikeout ended the game. 

May 5, 2002
#1 Delta State Eliminates #19 North Alabama, 8-2
MILLINGTON, TN - Top-ranked Delta State used a five-run fifth inning to defeat North Alabama, 8-2 and eliminate the Lions  from the Gulf South Conference Tournament, Sunday.  The Statesmen advance to play at 4 p.m., Monday with their opponent to be determined by Sunday's final two games.

Eric Smith led the Statesmen's 14-hit attack going 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Andy Dillard went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and Steven Tomaszewski added three hits including his 21st double of the season.

Jeff Cochran was the only Lion with multiple hits.  The senior rightfielder was 2-for-4 with a two-out, solo homer in the bottom of the ninth.

DSU's Jay Garner moved to 11-1, pitching a complete game six-hitter.  UNA starter Josh Brandon surrendered seven runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings of work to fall to 7-3.

May 4, 2002
Valdosta Continues Upset Trend with 6-3 Win over #1 Delta State
MILLINGTON, TN - Valdosta State leadoff hitter Scott Fletcher went three-for-four and scored four runs as the Blazers knocked off Delta State in the first round of the GSC tournament. VSU broke open a 1-1 tie with two runs in the third and added single runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth. DSU plated a run in the sixth and eighth. 

Valdosta State advances to take on Southern Arkansas at 7:30 p.m. Sunday evening. Delta State will play North Alabama at noon. 

May 4, 2002
Four Harding Homers Lead Bisons to Upset of #19 North Alabama

MILLINGTON, TN - Harding's Justin Cone and Morgan Trotter both hit a pair of home runs and drove in nine as the Bisons pounded out 17 hits en route to a 13-6 win over 19th-ranked North Alabama.  Cone also earned the victory on the mound for Harding, pitching 5.1 innings of relief and allowing only one run while striking out five.

The win lifts Harding, the third seed from the West Division, to 31-15 overall and sets them up for a Sunday matchup with Alabama-Huntsville at 4 p.m.  North Alabama, the East Division regular season champions, fell to 37-15 overall and play the loser of Delta State/Valdosta State at 12 p.m. Sunday.

With one run already in, Cone launched a three-run, first-inning homer to give the Bisons a 4-0 lead.  Lion starter Tatum Brown lasted only two batters into the second inning before being relieved by Bobby Hand.

UNA struck back with an unearned run in both the third and fourth innings.  Harding increased their lead to 7-2 on Trotter's three-run, opposite field home run in the fourth.

North Alabama closed the gap to 7-5 in their half of the fourth on an RBI double by Adam Wheeler and a two-run single from Bryan Swift.  The Lions knocked out Harding starter Aaron Gurley with one out in the inning, and Cone came on in relief to retire the first two hitters he faced.

Cone then put the game out of reach with his second home run of the game, a leadoff shot in the fifth.  It was Cone's 10th homer of the season, one short of the Harding record, with all 10 coming in his last 57 at-bats.  It was his third two-homer game this year.

With HU ahead 11-6, Trotter hit his second homer, a two-run blast, in the top of the ninth.  With four RBI in the game, Trotter increased his team-leading total to 53 on the season, becoming the first Bison hitter ever to reach the 50-RBI plateau.

North Alabama had 12 hits in the game, led by Swift with three and Douglas Hargett with two hits and three RBI. 

May 4, 2002
#12 Southern Arkansas Uses Longball to Down #6 Alabama-Huntsville in GSC Tourney Opener
MILLINGTON, TN - Southern Arkansas used solo home runs by Ric Prussing, Melvin Falu, and Tracy Geffre to defeat Alabama-Huntsville, 4-1 in the opener of the Gulf South Conference Tournament, Saturday at USA Stadium.

12th-ranked Southern Arkansas, who improved to 40-12, advances to play the winner of Delta State/Valdosta State, Sunday.  Alabama-Huntsville (33-11) plays the winner of North Alabama and Harding.

Sixth-ranked UAH scored their only run in the second inning on a Ryan Cox ground out that plated Wes Long, who had walked and moved to third on a Seth Bowen single.

From that point on, Mulerider starter Brandon Buford shut down the Charger offense, limiting them to only three more hits.  The junior lefthander pitched his fourth complete game of the season and improved his record to a perfect 10-0.  UAH's Adam Bass (7-4) also pitched a complete game, striking out nine while allowing seven hits.

Prussing tied the game 1-1 in the fourth with a leadoff homer down the left field line.  Jason Arrowood put SAU up 2-1 in the fifth, following a John Lenihan double with an RBI single up the middle.  Falu and Geffre added insurance with back-to-back homers in the ninth.  Falu's blast, his ninth of the season, crept over the left field fence before Geffre's (13) cleared the 414-foot sign in center.