LEXINGTON, Va.? VMI junior hurler Trey Barham earned his 17th career win by allowing only three hits in five innings in a 13-0 win in game one of a doubleheader, while sophomore pitcher Michael Bowman saw his no-hitter broken up in the seventh inning as the Keydets took game two of the doubleheader by a 10-0 count against Coppin State.
Sophomore catcher Michael Roberts slugged a pair of home runs while senior Robert Crumpler drove in four runs while going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles in the game one victory. In the second game, VMI took advantage of five wild pitches and five hit batsmen, as Eddie Van Es led the way offensively, going 3-for-4.
“Mike Roberts had a couple of great at bats in game one to jumpstart us offensively with his home runs,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry, who earned his 105th career victory in the game one win, as he now holds the most career wins by a VMI head coach. “Trey kept them off-balance in game one, and Michael gave us an outstanding effort in game two, carrying his no-hitter into the seventh. We did what we wanted to offensively, and I was proud of how we competed in playing our first Friday night doubleheader.”
Jacoby Fields broke a scoreless tie in the second inning of game one with a double to right-centerfield, plating Roberts to make it 1-0. Fields then came around to score on Thane Smith's fielder's choice, while a two-run single from Crumpler made it a 4-0 game. The Keydets kept it going in the third inning, as Roberts hit his second home run of the season, while Smith collected two more RBI with his centerfield single to make it a 7-0 advantage. Crumpler followed with his first double of the contest, plating another run, while Van Es plated a pair with his single to right-centerfield, giving the Keydets a 10-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, the Eagles collected singles in the second, third and fourth innings, including two by freshman Harry Williams, but could do no damage, pushing only one runner as far as second base against Barham, who struck out six while walking only one to improve to 8-2 on the season and 17-8 in his career. He was relieved after five innings by freshman Josh McPherson, who worked a perfect final two innings while recording three strikeouts.
VMI continued their barrage in the fifth inning, as back-to-back doubles by Smith and Crumpler accounted for the first run of the frame, while Roberts' second blast of the contest capped the scoring at 13-0. All of the runs were charged to starter Drew Boyer (0-8), who worked five innings, allowing 13 earned runs on 12 hits, walking five while failing to record a strikeout. He was relieved by DeShawn Daniel, who allowed only one batter to reach base, on a walk, in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Daniel (0-1) got the start in game two for the Eagles, however did not escape the first inning, as he recorded only one out while allowing one hit, but saw a pair of walks and four wild pitches lead to three runs. He was relieved by Williams, who threw the final 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs, five earned, on nine hits, walking only one while notching three strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Bowman (6-1) hit the second batter of the game, but saw him erased on a 6-4-3 double play, and did not allow another baserunner until Sebastian Fomenko's single to centerfield to leadoff the seventh inning. After his ninth strikeout of the evening, Bowman was lifted in favor of Chris Duty, leaving the game with only one hit allowed in 6.1 innings, walking none while notching his second-highest strikeout total of his career with nine. Duty then recorded the last two outs to secure the win in the second seven-inning contest of the night.
The Keydets built their lead to 5-0 with a pair of runs in the third inning, as Van Es scored on Field's sacrifice fly after a double, then A.J. Yoder came around on a fielding error on the shortstop hit by Brian Sandridge. Five more runs came across in the sixth, with back-to-back doubles by Crumpler and Van Es brought home the first tally, while Crumpler scored on another error by the leftfielder. Singles by Fields and Sandridge capped the scoring at 10-0, giving the Keydets their 26th victory of the season.
The two teams are scheduled to play the final game of the weekend on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Gray-Minor Stadium, weather permitting.
