LEXINGTON, Va.? In the longest game played at Gray-Minor Stadium, Liberty rallied with four runs in the seventh inning to the lead for good and coast to a 10-9 victory over VMI in each team's regular season finale on Sunday afternoon. The Flames end the regular season with an overall mark of 33-23 and 14-7 in the Big South, while VMI wraps up its regular season with a 34-19 record overall and 10-11 in the League.
In a game that saw each team go through five pitchers as both teams readied themselves for the Big South Baseball Championship this week, freshman lefthander Grady Ihnat collected his first career win by retiring a pair of batters, while Liberty closer Tim John earned his fifth save of the season by working the final 2.2 innings. Taking the loss out of the bullpen for VMI was Chris Duty (5-3), who was charged with four runs, three earned, in two innings of work. The third-seeded Flames and fourth-seeded Keydets are now set to meet in the first round of the Tournament on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C.
“I thought our offense did a nice job of putting up runs today,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “A.J. Yoder (4-for-4, 3 RBI) had a great day for us, which was much-needed. We had a lot of guys locked in offensively today, and got some big hits in big situations. It was a tough game to coach, because you don't want to extend your pitching right before the Tournament. But it was good to see their closer for almost three innings, hopefully that will help us next week. I was proud of how our guys have competed all year, we attained one of our team goals by finishing in the top half of the Conference, and I'm very proud of that. I think that if the circumstances would have been different today, we might have had a different outcome, but now we'll just get ready for Wednesday and the Tournament.”
Pacing the Keydet offense was junior outfielder Garrett Young, who hit his eighth home run on his way to a 3-for-5 day with three RBI. David Giammaresi and Nate Thompson each drove home a pair of runs on the day as well for the visitors, while Patrick Gaillard went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. On the other side, Yoder had a perfect day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a walk, while he drove home three runs with a bases loaded triple down the rightfield-line in the fourth inning. Also contributing for the Keydets were a pair of seniors in Jacoby Fields (2-for-4, 3 RBI) and Robert Crumpler (2-for-4, 2 R) who were playing their final home games as Keydets.
Kenneth Negron led off the game with a base knock off of Keydet starter Chris Henderson, then came around to score the game's first run two batters later on a groundout by Young. The Keydets answered as Chad Rice led off the bottom of the first with a walk before coming around to score two batters later on Crumpler's base knock through the right-side of the infield.
Young's two-run shot over the leftfield fence brought the margin to 3-1 in the third inning, but Eddie Van Es brought the Keydets back to within a run in the bottom half, as he drew a leadoff walk off of starter Chase Vaden, moved to third base on a pair of wild pitches then scored on a passed ball after Andrew Wilson came on in relief.
The Flames advanced the margin to 5-2 in the top of the fourth, with P.K. Keller leading off the inning with a base knock back up the middle. Gaillard followed with a two-bagger down the leftfield-line, before Giammaresi had the first of his two RBI singles. A sacrifice fly by Thompson then plated Gaillard, and followed by another base knock, Henderson was lifted from the game in favor of Ian Casher, who got out of the jam unscathed.
The Keydets went to work to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out rally. Van Es plated Justin Hess with a single back up the middle to cut the advantage to 5-3, before Crumpler's base hit into leftfield loaded the bases for Yoder. The sophomore infielder then connected for a perfectly-placed shot down the rightfield line that cleared the bags and gave the Keydets the 6-5 advantage.
Liberty left the bases loaded in the top of the fifth off of Casher, while the Keydets stranded Mike Roberts after a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth. A two-run single from Jacoby Fields in the sixth gave VMI a three-run cushion headed t the seventh inning, as Duty looked to follow up his 1-2-3 sixth inning performance against the middle of the Flames' order.
Young led off the seventh with a base knock up the middle before Duty struck out Tim Nanry for the first out. Another single into leftfield was followed by a walk to load the bases before Duty notched his second strikeout of the inning. Facing Thompson, Duty got ahead 0-2 before wasting a pitch, then came inside and clipped the catcher to bring home the inning's first run. A full-count walk plated another to bring the margin to 8-7, before an infield single from Negron knotted the game at 8-8. With the bases still loaded, Phil John hit a bouncer to shortstop, but it was booted to prolong the inning and give the Flames a one-run advantage before the Keydets finally escaped on a flyout by Young, the inning's tenth batter.
The Flames tacked on another thanks to a two-out triple from Gaillard, followed by a base hit from Giammaresi to drive home his second run of the game. The Keydets cut the margin back to a single run with another RBI from Fields, this time a single through the right-side of the infield that plated Yoder, who doubled earlier in the inning off of the closer, Tim John. But John set the Keydets down in order in the ninth, as the Flames claimed the series victory.
Prior to the contest, the VMI baseball program honored its 2007 senior class, comprising seven players that entered the Institute together four years ago. The class, comprised of Crumpler, Fields, Rice, Thane Smith, Casher, Corey Bachman and John Goode, will leave the Institute as the first graduating class in 40 years to post a winning record during their time with the program, currently standing with 114 wins and 104 losses.
The Keydets and Flames both return to action in Game Three of the Big South Baseball Championship, being held at the Winthrop Ballpark in Rock Hill, S.C.
