Baseball VMIKeydets.com

Baseball Blanked On Opening Night at Liberty, 8-0

LYNCHBURG, Va.? Senior David Stokes shut out VMI for eight innings, scattering five hits while striking out nine as Liberty claimed game one of the Big South weekend series 8-0 on Friday night at Worthington Stadium.

The Flames (19-18, 7-3 Big South) pounded out eight runs off of five Keydet hurlers in the win. VMI (19-18, 9-4 Big South), meanwhile, managed only six singles in the contest, as Stokes (5-3) and Andrew Wilson combined to shut out the Keydets for only the second time this season.

LU jumped ahead 2-0 in the first off of Keydet starter Chris Henderson (5-4), leading off the inning with three consecutive singles into center field. Henderson surrendered another run in the third inning, when Errol Hollinger scored after a one-out triple. In the fourth, Henderson faced two batters before suffering an injury on his first pitch to Joseph Feeley. The junior right-hander was lifted from the game and relieved by Daniel Wood, who retired only one of the four batters he faced before Jason Farley came on.

The Flames plated a pair in the fifth off of Farley, who allowed each of the first four batters that he faced in the fifth inning to reach before escaping the jam on a double play and a ground out on consecutive pitches.

With the margin 7-0, VMI had no answer for Stokes. The team's biggest rally came in the fifth, when VMI loaded the bases on infield singles by Thane Smith and Sam Roberts and a walk issued to Shane Geisslinger. Stokes recovered from his only free pass of the night to strike out Mike Roberts to end the threat, beginning a streak of nine in a row set down by the right-hander.

Matt Murrer offered the Keydets' best performance of the evening on the mound, retiring seven of the first eight batters that he faced after entering in the sixth, with the only base runner he allowed coming on an error. After working a career-best 2.1 innings, Murrer allowed a solo home run to Aaron Phillips before hitting Kenneth Negron, spelling the end of the night for the senior southpaw. Josh McPherson came on to retire the final two batters.

Smith had two of VMI's six hits in the contest, while Mike Roberts was the only other Keydet to reach base twice, doing so by singling and being hit by a pitch.

Hollinger paced the Flame offensive attack, going 2-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored.

The Keydets and Flames play game two of the weekend series on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on Lexington's WREL 1450 AM and online at www.VMIKeydets.com.
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Players Mentioned

Jason Farley

#11 Jason Farley

LHP
6' 3"
Freshman
L/L
Shane Geisslinger

#2 Shane Geisslinger

IF
5' 8"
Senior
R/R
Chris Henderson

#7 Chris Henderson

RHP
6' 0"
Junior
R/R
Josh McPherson

#27 Josh McPherson

RHP
6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
Mike Roberts

#6 Mike Roberts

C
6' 2"
Junior
R/R
Sam Roberts

#4 Sam Roberts

IF/OF/P
6' 2"
Freshman
L/R
Daniel Wood

#13 Daniel Wood

LHP
6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L

Players Mentioned

Jason Farley

#11 Jason Farley

6' 3"
Freshman
L/L
LHP
Shane Geisslinger

#2 Shane Geisslinger

5' 8"
Senior
R/R
IF
Chris Henderson

#7 Chris Henderson

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Josh McPherson

#27 Josh McPherson

6' 4"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Mike Roberts

#6 Mike Roberts

6' 2"
Junior
R/R
C
Sam Roberts

#4 Sam Roberts

6' 2"
Freshman
L/R
IF/OF/P
Daniel Wood

#13 Daniel Wood

6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L
LHP