LEXINGTON, Va.? Freshman outfielder Justin Hess drove in three runs with a double and a home run as VMI assured themselves of the fourth seed in the upcoming Big South Conference Baseball Championship with a 5-3 win over Liberty Saturday evening at Gray-Minor Stadium.
VMI (34-18, 10-10 Big South) took a 4-0 lead over the first three innings, only to see Liberty bring the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth. Keydet starter Trey Barham (9-4) scattered eight hits over six innings to secure the win, while Corey Bachman came on and allowed only one run over the final three innings to lock up his seventh save of the season.
The Flames (32-23, 13-7 Big South), who are now locked into the third seed in the Big South Championship, saw starter Tyler Light (5-5) allow each of the Keydets' five runs while working the first three-plus innings, while Ryan Page came on to shutout VMI while scattering three hits over the final five innings. The Flames and Keydets are now slated to face off in the First Round of the Big South Championship on Wednesday evening in Rock Hill, S.C.
“Trey Barham did a nice job of giving us six strong innings tonight and got himself the win,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “We got the three-spot early and really came out and showed what we're capable of offensively. It was good to see our guys be very aggressive in hitters counts tonight, and I was impressed with how we came out and put up those early runs. Justin Hess really impressed me tonight; as a freshman to be able to come out and produce like he has late in the season really shows a lot of guts. I told our guys that it's all about getting hot at the right time, and hopefully that's what we saw tonight. It's good to solidify the fourth seed; one of our goals coming into the season was to finish in the upper half of the League, and now we've done just that. Corey Bachman was impressive out of the bullpen, he showed what he's made of tonight after struggling last night and to pitch three innings and get the save this evening. I thought their lefty, Ryan Page, did a nice job of keeping us at bay in the last half of the game. Liberty's got a really solid club, but I was proud of our intensity level in tonight's game and how we competed.”
Each of the top seven hitters in the Keydet lineup collected base hits, including Jacoby Fields, who went 2-for-4, and Hess, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI from the sixth and seventh spots in the order, respectively. Senior Robert Crumpler hit a pair of doubles on the evening to bring his season total to 22 two-baggers, the second-most by a VMI hitter in school history. Liberty shortstop Patrick Gaillard led the way for the Flames with a 3-for-4 evening, driving home a run, while David Giammaresi went 2-for-3 out of the eighth spot in the lineup.
The Keydets jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the first inning, though it could have been more if not for a pair of baserunners being thrown out at the plate. A base knock from A.J. Yoder plated the first run, as Eddie Van Es came around to score. Brian Sandridge then lined a single into centerfield, where Garrett Young quickly scooped up the hit and threw home to nail Robert Crumpler as he attempted to score for the inning's second out. A base knock from Fields loaded the bases for Hess, who scorched a ball down the rightfield line. Yoder and Sandridge made it a 3-0 advantage, but Fields was thrown out at the plate to end the rally.
VMI tacked on another in the third, as Van Es led off the inning with a single into leftfield, followed by Crumpler's first double of the evening, this one into deep centerfield which plated Van Es to make the advantage 4-0.
Barham faced his first jam in the fourth inning, as Young led off the frame with a bunt single. A pair of groundouts moved the junior centerfielder to third base, while he trotted home on Gaillard's single up the middle to make it a 4-1 contest. Barham issued back-to-back walks to load the bases, then struck out Derek Bennion to end the threat.
Hess promptly followed with his first career home run, a left-centerfield shot that just cleared the wall, to lead off the bottom of the inning, bringing the margin to 5-1 and chasing Light from the game in favor of Page.
The Flames cut into the deficit in the sixth inning, with Cody Brown leading things off with a single up the middle. Brown then showed off his speed by tagging up from first base on a deep flyout to rightfield, then scooted home on a base knock from Errol Hollinger into left-centerfield, bringing the score to 5-2.
Page continued to roll through the latter innings, working around a Crumpler double in the fifth and a Hess single the in the sixth to continue to keep the Keydets off the board. Corey Bachman came on in relief of Barham in the seventh, retiring the Flames in order while Page held serve by doing the same in the bottom half. Bachman then saw his defense turn the second inning-ending double play of the night in the eighth, while Page worked to strand Fields in the bottom half after his two-out single.
That set the stage for the top of the ninth inning, with Bachman out for his third inning of work. The senior righthander allowed back-to-back singles to the first two batters he faced, before each runner moved up on a groundout from leadoff man Kenneth Negron. Another groundout plated the Flames' third run of the night, but brought the visitors down to their final out. Young came to the plate representing the tying run, and fouled off a pair of pitches before watching a ball go by to bring the count to 1-2. The next pitch was ruled to have hit off the knob of the bat before striking Young, who had advanced to first base while thinking he had been hit directly by the pitch. The centerfielder was called back to the batter's box, and after a lengthy debate, the at bat resumed. Three pitches later, Young sent a flyball into centerfield, where it was gloved by Hess for the final out of the contest.
The Keydets and Flames meet in game three of the weekend series on Sunday afternoon, as the VMI baseball program will honor its seniors prior to the start of the 2 p.m. contest.
