Blazer Baseball debuted opened their season on the right swing after winning the first series of the season against Embry-Riddle.

The baseball team finished their weekend 2-1, but only hit a .219 batting average in the three games.

“I think it was nice to win, and win the first series,” head coach Greg Guilliams said. “I think when it’s all said and done, we are still very early in the season and these games showed us where we need to get better.”

The pitching staff did their jobs keeping the games close. The staff all together threw an 2.42 era and had 31 strikeouts in three games.

“Overall, I was very pleased with our pitching,” Guilliams said. “I think it shows the quality of our pitching depth which is something we’ve not had, so that was probably the biggest positive.”

This Tuesday the Blazers will face Albany State at 4p.m. at home and Colten Chupp was called on by Guilliams to start the game.

“I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty good right now,” Chupp said. “I have a couple good bullpens coming up to the start.”

Chupp is a new arm on the team that came from State College of Florida.

In his last season with the Manatees, Chupp had a 3-5 win-lost record and 4.62 era. He had 42 strikeouts last year and averaged about seven a game.

“I have been working on my off-speed pitches and accuracy in the off-season,” said Chupp. “I’m not a big speed, so I have to locate my pitches and throw strikes.”

Albany State’s record is 1-2 and hit a .297 batting average so far. The Golden Rams got 33 hits in their games, with 18 runs.

“Albany State had scored a lot of runs this past weekend,” Guilliams said. “So they are swinging the bats well. My biggest concern is in the offense, I think we have enough pitching for it. We got to get better in the next few days so I feel comfortable in our ability to score.”

Albany State’s pitching staff so far has an era of 4.32 and hold their opponents to a .263 batting average. They are also not afraid to throw the ball on the inner half of the plate, the team hit 8 batters in the three games they play.

Written By Bryce Decker, Staff Writer. Photo courtesy of VSU Athletics. 

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