Baseball Takes Fourth Straight With 10-7 Win Over Norfolk State

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Baseball Takes Fourth Straight With 10-7 Win Over Norfolk State

LEXINGTON, Va.- Jordan Ballard and Mike Roberts each hit home runs and combined to drive in seven runs as VMI defeated Norfolk State 10-7 on Wednesday evening at Gray-Minor Stadium.

Roberts went 2-for-4 with four RBI, while Ballard extended his career-best hitting streak to ten games with his three-run home run in the fourth. Shane Geisslinger went 1-for-3 and collected four of VMI's season-high eight stolen bases while scoring a pair of runs.

The Keydets (19-17) won their fourth in a row while scoring double-digit runs for second time in three games. The Spartans (13-14) dropped their fourth-straight.

Freshman Adam Kruithof (1-1) collected his first career win while working four innings in a pre-determined start. The right-hander, who was the first of five Keydet pitchers to work in the contest, scattered seven hits while allowing only two runs. Junior starter Jason Barker (1-1) took the loss for the Spartans, allowing eight runs, four earned, in four innings.

"That was a good win for us, to win back-to-back nights in mid-week games," said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. "Adam did a nice job of settling in and making some pitches and collecting his first career win. He just got to a pitch count that he's not accustomed to, because he's been a reliever for us most of the year. We knew it was going to be a night where a lot of guys that haven't traditionally thrown for us would see innings. I can't speak highly enough of the job that Travis Smink did coming in for the second-straight night and closing out the game.

NSU opened the scoring in the first, plating a single run before the Keydet offense went to work. VMI batted around in the second, taking advantage of a one-out error in putting up four runs with three of them being unearned. A.J. Yoder tied the game with his sacrifice fly, before Shane Geisslinger hit into a bases-loaded fielder's choice, followed two batters later by Mike Roberts' two-run single.

In the home third, Yoder lifted a ball deep to the right-center field gap, where NSU center fielder Billy Canady attempted an acrobatic catch on the warning track. As he leapt to make the catch, his feet went out from under him and he crashed head-first into the wall. Canady was taken away by the Lexington Rescue Squad after a 23-minute delay, and the junior outfielder was released after being checked out at Stonewall Jackson Hospital.

Yoder scored in the next at bat, before the lead grew to 8-2 in the fourth on Ballard's three-run home run. Roberts' two-run shot in the sixth brought the score to 10-3, before NSU mounted a comeback.

Keydet reliever Matt Murrer, who entered in the sixth and escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam, was touched up for a pair of runs in the seventh on Chris Joyce's single. With the score 10-5 entering the eighth, the Spartans rallied for two more runs off of Josh McPherson.

VMI closer Travis Smink came on to work the ninth, retiring the side in order in the ninth. Smink struck out a pair while recording his sixth save of the season, and has now retired the last eight batters he has faced over three relief appearances, striking out six of the eight.

"That's a situation where we had chances in the late innings to extend the lead and we didn't," said Ikenberry. "Mike Roberts had a big day for us and Jordan Ballard had the three-run home run. Shane Geisslinger had a big day on the base paths, and it was good to see Colin Miller get his first collegiate hit. The middle of our lineup really came through, and it looks like our offense really has a chance to be explosive."

The Keydets return to action on Friday evening, when they play game one of a three-game, Big South Conference weekend series in Lynchburg against Liberty at 7 p.m.
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Players Mentioned

Jordan Ballard

#26 Jordan Ballard

IF
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Shane Geisslinger

#2 Shane Geisslinger

IF
5' 8"
Senior
R/R
Adam Kruithof

#9 Adam Kruithof

RHP/IF
5' 11"
Freshman
R/R
Josh McPherson

#27 Josh McPherson

RHP
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
Colin Miller

#30 Colin Miller

OF
5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
Mike Roberts

#6 Mike Roberts

C
6' 2"
Junior
R/R
Travis Smink

#35 Travis Smink

LHP
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L
A.J. Yoder

#10 A.J. Yoder

IF
5' 11"
Junior
L/R

Players Mentioned

Jordan Ballard

#26 Jordan Ballard

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
IF
Shane Geisslinger

#2 Shane Geisslinger

5' 8"
Senior
R/R
IF
Adam Kruithof

#9 Adam Kruithof

5' 11"
Freshman
R/R
RHP/IF
Josh McPherson

#27 Josh McPherson

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Colin Miller

#30 Colin Miller

5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
R/R
OF
Mike Roberts

#6 Mike Roberts

6' 2"
Junior
R/R
C
Travis Smink

#35 Travis Smink

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L
LHP
A.J. Yoder

#10 A.J. Yoder

5' 11"
Junior
L/R
IF