AUBURN, Ala.? A three-run eighth inning gave VMI the lead for good, as sophomore closer Kevin Crum came on to record his tenth save of the season as the 30th-ranked Keydets, playing their first game in program history as a nationally-ranked club, defeated the highest-ranked opponent in school history by a 7-3 count on Tuesday evening at Plainsman Park. The team's eighth-straight win improves on the school's best start at 13-3, while the 10th-ranked Tigers fall to 17-3.
Sophomore Eddie Van Es tied the game with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, before the Tigers took the lead back with a single run in the bottom of the inning. But the Keydets struck again in the eighth, as David Lottman scampered home on a wild pitch after entering the game as a pinch-runner to tie the game, before Van Es' triple to right-centerfield gave the Keydets a 4-3 advantage. Brian Sandridge drove in another run with a double to centerfield, giving the Keydets a 5-3 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth. From there, Crum retired the final six batters while receiving two more insurance runs on a two-run double by Crumpler.
“In the first five innings, we made many uncharacteristic mistakes that we haven't made all year,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “Eddie Van Es' homerun got us going, and I was extremely proud of how hard our team played even after we made those mistakes early in the game. I thought A.J. Yoder had a gutsy performance tonight playing injured, and David Lottman came on to pinch-run for Yoder made a great dirtball-read to score the tying run. After that, we had some great at bats by Van Es and Crumpler late in the ballgame, and Brian Sandridge's pinch-hit double to extend the lead was big for us. Our pitching staff did a great job of making pitches, and our defense played behind them when we needed to.”
Van Es and Crumpler each ended the game 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, as Van Es accounted for three RBI and Crumpler accounted for two. The Keydet pitching staff surrendered only four hits to a Tiger team averaging nine runs per game, as Trey Barham gave up a pair of unearned runs on two hits while working the first two innings, while Ian Casher worked the next 3.1 innings on two hits. Corey Bachman earned his third win in as many outings by pitching the next 1.2 innings, while Crum slammed the door for his 12th career save.
“Trey Barham got us off to a good start, which is what we were looking for out of him,” said VMI pitching coach Ryan Mau. “Casher did an excellent job of keeping them off-balance & getting us to the back-third of the ballgame. Bachman settled down nicely after giving up the sacrifice fly, and made it possible to hand the ball over to our closer, Kevin Crum. Crum had his plus-stuff tonight and went through one of the most lethal 3-4-5 hitters in the country.”
The Keydets and Tigers will meet on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. Eastern, as VMI has now claimed three in a row against the Tigers, coached by VMI graduate Tom Slater.
