Baseball VMIKeydets.com

Crumpler?s Perfect Day Leads VMI to 8-6 Win over William & Mary

Related Material
Box Score
LEXINGTON, Va.- Robert Crumpler went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBI to lead VMI past William & Mary 8-6 in non-conference action Tuesday afternoon at Patchin Field. With the win, VMI snaps a five-game losing streak and improves to 14-17 on the season, while William & Mary falls to 16-14.

Crumpler (Suffolk, Va./Nansemond-Suffolk) was one of eight Keydets to record hits, as VMI's fourth, fifth and sixth hitters combined to produce all eight RBI on the day. Elliott Erbe (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Thane Smith (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial) collected a pair of RBI with his double in the seventh inning.

“I was real excited with how our guys came out and played today,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. Our middle of the lineup did a great job of putting pressure on their pitching staff, and our first three hitters did a great job of getting on base so that our middle guys were hitting with runners on. I'm real proud of the day Robert Crumpler had, he had some great plays in the field and was perfect at the plate, and Thane did a great job of coming up with a big double in the seventh after a couple of tough at bats.”

Earning his first win of the season was Josh Owens (Sandston, Va./Benedictine), who allowed one run in the seventh inning, then saw the Keydets answer with three in the bottom of the seventh. Jeff DeMara (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) earned his third save of the season, allowing one run while working the final two innings, striking out three batters.

“I have total faith in our bullpen to come in and get the final nine outs of a game for us,” said Ikenberry. “Josh and Jeff both threw Sunday, so I didn't know how much each of those guys would have left. But Josh came in in the seventh and did a great job of limiting them to only one run, I was really proud of how he competed. And Jeff came in and nailed down the save for us after working on both Saturday and Sunday.”

For the Tribe, Pete Vernon (Ft. Washington, Pa./Germantown Academy) was tagged with his first loss of the season (3-1), allowing four runs in three innings of work. Vernon relieved Jeff Dagenhart (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park), who pitched 3.1 innings, as the Keydets had eight hits and four runs off of Dagenhart.

Pacing the Tribe offensive attack were Kyle Padgett(Needham, Mass./Needham), Terry Revere (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown) and Will Rhymes (Houston, Texas/Lamar), who each had a pair of hits. Padgett and Will Rhymes each had an RBI as well, while Chris Rahl (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) drove home a pair of runs with his two-run homer in the fourth inning.

The Tribe jumped on top early when, in the first inning, Will Rhymes reached on a fielding error by the shortstop that brought home a pair of runs. However, after Revere struck out, Padgett grounded out to the third baseman, leaving a pair of William & Mary runners stranded, a common theme on the day for the Tribe.

In the top of the third inning, VMI starting pitcher Trey Barham walked a pair of batters and allowed an infield single to load the bases with two outs. However, Barham induced a fly ball to center field to record the final out, as the Tribe left seven baserunners in the first three innings of the game alone.

The Keydets answered in the bottom of the third inning, when a two-out rally gave them a 4-2 lead. After Shane Geisslinger was thrown out at home on a shallow fly ball to left field, Kelly Sweppenhiser stepped up with a single through the left side of the infield, advancing Klint Reed to second base. After a wild pitch moved each runner up a base, Erbe's single down the left field line tied the score at 2-2. Crumpler stepped to the plate next, and on a 3-1 count, drilled a home run to left field, moving the Keydets up by a pair of runs.

W&M would respond in the top of the fourth inning, when Rahl's eighth home run of the season came off of reliever Corey Bachman and knotted the score at 4-4.

That is how it would stay until Crumpler came up again in the fifth inning, as he homered in back-to-back at bats for the second time in four days, crushing his seventh long ball of the season to center field. His solo shot gave the Keydets a 5-4 advantage.

Down one run in the seventh inning, W&M tied the game when Jeff Lunardi doubled to center field following a leadoff triple by Will Rhymes.

However, the Keydets had yet another answer, this time in the bottom of the seventh. Matt Smith's one-out double was followed by back-to-back singles from Sweppenhiser and Erbe, loading the bases for Crumpler. Once again, Crumpler delivered, this time with a single down the right field line, giving VMI the 6-5 lead. On the next pitch, Thane Smith stroked his sixth double of the season to left-center field, putting the Keydets up 8-5.

DeMara came on in the eighth inning to protect the three-run lead and sat the Tribe down 1-2-3 in the eighth. After a double play ended VMI's chances of adding to its lead in the eighth, DeMara came back on to work the ninth.

The Tribe's rally in the ninth began well, with a single, a double, and an RBI single by Padgett, cutting the lead to 8-6 with runners on the corners and nobody out. However, after a trip to the mound by Ikenberry, DeMara got Lunardi to pop up a bunt on his first pitch, then eventually struck out the final two batters of the game to seal the win.

Barham earned the first start of his career, allowing only three hits and two runs, one earned, in three innings. He pitched himself out of jams in each inning, and ended up with three strikeouts. Bachman also worked three innings for the Keydets, allowing two hits and two runs, one earned, while striking out a pair.

“Trey went in there for us today and did exactly what I asked from him,” said Ikenberry. “And Corey did a great job in the middle innings, he just had one bad pitch there in the fourth inning.”

Earning his third start of the season behind the plate for VMI was Chase Buchanan, who recorded his second hit of the season, a single to right-center field, while turning in a good day defensively behind the plate.

The Keydets return to action Friday afternoon, when they host in-state rival Longwood in the first game of a weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Patchin Field.
Print Friendly Version