ETTRICK, VA  – The Virginia State University baseball team (12-22) will finish their regular season with a seven-game home stand starting with a four-game series against Bluefield State College. The squad looks to put an end to their six-game losing streak, as they are fresh off their biggest loss of the season 18-0 in game one of the doubleheader against UMO. VSU was shut out 8-0 in game two. The offensive struggles for the Trojans have been real, as the squad has scored just one run in the last five games.


 
The super freshman, Tahruan Hammond currently leads the team in a host of categories such as batting average (.380), runs (34), hits (41), walks (26), doubles (12), slugging percentage (.593), on-base percentage (.507) and on-base slugging percentage (1.100). His on-base percentage ranks him within the top-50 in the country. Hammond also has a lively arm on the mound as the reliever has accounted for 21 strikeouts while giving up just 14 hits. Dawsyn Hock maintains a batting average of .370, which ranks him second on the team. He has had four games this season when he has batted 1.000 with more than one at-bat in the contest. Opposing teams plan to play the fence against Ricky Jones with his.355 batting average which,  ranks him third on the team. Jones leads the squad in home runs (5), RBI (28), at-bats (110) and triples (2). He has collected 11 multi-hit games this season. The Trojans currently have four players, who have at least 50 at-bats that maintain a batting average of .300 or better. The team bats .281 from the plate with an on-base percentage of .394. The pitching rotation has allowed a respectable 6.70 earned runs per contest and have struck out 208 batters while walking just 130. Nicholas Woolfolk and Grayson "Cole" Spain are proven to be a two-headed monster on the mound as Woolfolk leads the team with five wins while maintaining an impressive 3.13 ERA in 60.1 innings while Spain leads the team with 67 strikeouts. Against CAU, Woolfolk earned a career-high nine strikeouts as Spain earned a season-high 14 strikeouts against Davis & Elkins. On five separate occasions, Woolfolk has given up no more than two earned runs while pitching five innings or more this season. Woolfolk is ranked within the top-20 in the country in innings pitched. Spain has his name all over the country's pitching statistics as he ranks within the top-40 in the country in innings pitched with 49.2 and ranks 17th in strikeouts per nine innings with 12.86. Rashard Miller has proven to be a primetime reliever as he has stepped in 21.2 inning and struck out 14 batters while maintaining a 2.91 ERA. Avante Banks leads the infield with 101 put outs so far this season while also maintaining a .279 batting average. Ricky Jones is a vacuum in the outfield as well with 78 put outs on the season with no errors. Tahraun Hammond has assisted on the most outs on the team this season with 57 making amazing diving stops and throws from his knees from his shortstop position. 

 
 
Weekend Schedule
Saturday-Sunday, April 23-24
Virginia State vs. Bluefield State College
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Both days) *Ettrick, VA *Whaley Colbert Field
 
 
 
About Bluefield State College
The Big Blue of Bluefield State College are 17-23 overall this season after winning four-straight taking 2-of-3 against UVA-Wise. BSC followed up with huge victories against Emory & Henry which included a 20-0 win in game one of the doubleheader. They look to improve upon their 9-14 away record. Offensively, BSC puts the bat on the ball at a decent clip hitting .278 with a .368 on-base percentage and boast 46 home runs (Most of any opponent). BSC has driven 235 runs home with a .465 slugging percentage. The squad has struck out 359 times while drawing 145 walks. Ty Sizemore (13) and Cole Cote (10) are the sluggers of the squad as the two combine for 23 homeruns on the season. With 121 at-bats, Jordan Varela-Payne leads his squad with a .355 batting average as well as triples with six, slugging percentage with a .686, on-base slugging percentage with a 1.154, runs with 42 and RBI with 37. Varela-Payne also accounts for six homeruns with 23 walks on the season (leads team). The Big Blue pitching rotation gives away 7.45 earned runs per contest while allowing 325 runs with 272 strikeouts this season. Teams have accumulated 403 hits against the rotation this season and collectively bat .324 against them. Shawn Runey is the ace as he leads the team in innings pitched (64.1). Runey also leads the squad in strikeouts with 62 and has only walked 18. He leads maintains a 3.78 ERA with a 3-4 record. His best game this season came against WVU when he struck out 11 batters while only giving up a walk and two earned runs in seven innings of work.


 
Series History
The Trojans are 11-12 against the Big Blue in matchups dating back to 2012. VSU looks to end the four-game losing streak against BSC, which came in their four-game series in 2021. The Trojans lost by just a run in three of the four games against BSC in the 2021 season. Virginia State is an even 6-6 against the Big Blue on Whaley Colbert Field. The Trojans will look to get back to their winning ways against BSC similar to the one in the 2014-2015 seasons in which they won five-straight.


 
Next Five Matchups

• Apr. 23-24 vs. Bluefield State
• Apr. 30-May 1 vs. Salem