Baseball 4/27/2008 12:00:00 AM VMIKeydets.com

Baseball Splits Doubleheader With #15 Coastal Carolina

LEXINGTON, Va.? VMI notched its first win over a ranked opponent this season in claiming a walk-off, 4-3 win over #15 Coastal Carolina in game one of a doubleheader at Gray-Minor Stadium, before the Chanticleers took the rubber game of the Big South series, 12-1.

Senior second sacker Shane Geisslinger plated Justin Hess with the winning run in the ninth inning of game one, breaking a 3-3 deadlock that the teams had battled through since the fifth inning. Travis Smink collected the win by working the final two innings, allowing only two hits.

Smink (2-1) then took the ball to start game two. The Chanticleers (36-9, 12-3 Big South) roughed him up early, tagging him with the loss after he surrendered six runs, four earned, on seven hits in 2.2 innings.

VMI (22-22, 11-7 Big South) managed only one run off of Coastal starter Nick McCully (7-2), a home run by Tanner Biagini. McCully worked 7.1 innings, scattering six hits while striking out four.

“I was very happy with the way that we played in game one,” said Ikenberry. “I'm not a big fan of doubleheaders, but sometimes you have to do it due to weather. That was probably the biggest hit of Shane Geisslinger's career, and I couldn't be prouder that he was the one that got the hit to win the game.”

Coastal grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning of game one off of starter Michael Bowman, when the junior right-hander issued three consecutive walks, the final one plating a run.

A one-out home run in the home second by Jordan Ballard knotted the game back at one, before Mike Roberts' two-run home run gave VMI a 3-1 advantage in the third.

Bowman walked home the Chants' second run of the day in the fourth, before a leadoff home run by David Anderson tied the game in the fifth.

Bowman ended up working seven innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits, walking a career-high six while striking out three.

“Bowman did a great job of battling through without his best stuff,” said Ikenberry. “He got himself in a jam and walked three in a row. I thought that we'd have to go get him early, but he really settled in after getting out of that inning. Again, I can't speak highly enough of the way Travis Smink continues to come in and get outs for us.”

Coastal starter Joey Haug worked 6.2 innings, allowing five hits and three runs before giving way to Pete Andrelczyk (4-1) in the seventh with the bases loaded. Andrelczyk retired the first four batters he faced, sending the game to the ninth tied at three.

A two-out double from Tommy Baldridge preceded an infield single by Adam Rice that put the go-ahead run 90 feet away from scoring. Smink got Tyler Bortnick to fly out to right-center field to give VMI a chance for the walk-off win.

With one out in the home ninth, Justin Hess went from first-to-third on Justin Topping's base knock through the right-side of the infield, setting the scene for Geisslinger's chopper over the third baseman's head and into left field.

The win over the Chanticleers is VMI's first over a ranked opponent since knocking off #3 Virginia at Gray-Minor Stadium on April 3, 2007. It is VMI's first win over Coastal Carolina since May 6, 2006, and marks the fifth time in VMI's 11 conference wins that the Keydets have won the game in their final at bat.

Mike Roberts went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and his seventh home run of the season to pace VMI's attack in game one. Rice and Bortnick each had a pair of singles, while Anderson's home run and a ninth-inning Baldridge double accounted for Coastal's only two extra base hits. The Chants stranded 13 runners on base in their first loss in ten outings on the road.

A two-out error proved costly in the first inning of game two, as the Keydets fell behind 2-0 on a pair of unearned runs following an A.J. Yoder fielding miscue. The Chanticleers quickly extended their lead, as Scott Woodward hit a three-run home run in the second. Evan Noell then plated Baldridge in the third, chasing Smink with a 6-0 deficit.

Chris Duty came on and allowed only one base runner over the next four innings, hitting Bortnick with a pitch in the sixth. Duty ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing his first earned run in 19 innings when Baldridge doubled home Dock Doyle.

“In game two, they did a good job of getting Smink's pitch count up and putting some runs on him,” said Ikenberry. “Chris Duty did an outstanding job of coming in and getting outs.”

The Chanticleers tacked on five runs in the ninth off of three Keydet hurlers. Woodward (1-for-3) and Baldridge (3-for-4, two doubles) each drove home three in game two for Coastal, while David Sappelt scored twice after going 2-for-5.

Biagini led the way in game two for VMI, going 3-for-4 with his fourth-inning home run.

The Keydets return to action Tuesday evening, taking on VCU at 7 p.m. at The Diamond in Richmond.

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