Baseball Rallies For 9-5 Win Over Radford

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Baseball Rallies For 9-5 Win Over Radford

LEXINGTON, Va.? Every Keydet hitter had a hit and either scored a run or drove one home as VMI rallied from an early deficit with eight runs in the middle innings in a 9-5 win over Radford on Sunday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium.

The Keydets (14-15, 6-2 Big South), winners of ten of their last 13 contests, and Highlanders (15-14, 2-3 Big South) wrap up the Big South Conference series on Monday evening at 6 p.m. at Gray-Minor Stadium in the make-up of Friday's postponed game.

Sophomore outfielder Brian Sandridge, who delivered a three-run, walk-off home run earlier in the day in the conclusion of Saturday's suspended game, came up big once again with three RBIs while going 3-for-4. Jordan Ballard was also 3-for-4 for the Keydets, while Mike Roberts and Alex Haitsuka each had two-hit days for the winners.

“I can't speak highly enough about the middle of our lineup today,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “So many guys had big hits today for us. Brian Sandridge had three RBIs for us and came up with a couple of big hits, and Jordan Ballard had three more hits right behind him. A.J. Yoder had a sacrifice fly to give us the lead in the fifth, and Alex Haitsuka swung the bat well to get a couple of hits. Shane Geisslinger had a great at bat with two outs to get A.J. home from second late in the game. I was proud of the way our guys competed all day, after basically playing a complete game last night and then coming out here today and playing 11 innings with a dramatic ending to the first game.”

Keydet starter Chris Henderson (4-3) surrendered a three-spot in the first inning, when Mario Duarte delivered an RBI single before a two-run home run by Alex Gregory, his second dinger of the series. Henderson bounced back to retire 13 of the next 14 batters that he faced before working out of a jam in the fifth.

VMI, meanwhile, began its comeback in the fourth inning off of RU starter Adam Hoyt (3-2). Back-to-back, run-scoring singles from Justin Hess and Haitsuka brought the margin to 3-2 in the fourth, before Sandridge delivered a single through the left-side of the infield to plate the tying run in the fifth. A.J. Yoder gave the Keydets a 4-3 lead two batters later, hitting a sacrifice fly to plate Tanner Biagini.

VMI continued its assault with a four-run sixth inning against three different Highlander hurlers. Sandridge capped the rally with a two-run single into left field after Mike Roberts and Biagini each had RBI knocks for the Keydets.

Henderson was chased in the seventh, when Radford cut the margin to 8-4 on Ben Toth's sacrifice fly. He gave way to Jason Farley, who allowed a single to the first batter he faced before retiring the next five batters he faced.

With the lead 9-4 headed to the ninth inning, Farley surrendered a leadoff home run to pinch-hitter Andrew Cook. After a base knock by Nick Minter followed, Farley was lifted in favor of Chris Duty, who needed only three pitches to induce a fly out and double play to end the game.

Henderson, the Big South's leader in strikeouts with 51, struck out six over 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. He also surrendered a walk in the fifth inning, the fifth he has issued this season and only the second over his past 30.1 innings pitched.

"Henderson did a great job of getting under control after he got a little flustered in the first," said Ikenberry. "It was good for him to settle in and get us into the seventh inning. I was impressed with how Jason (Farley) and Chris Duty came in and competed to finish the ballgame for us, that was really outstanding."

Hoyt surrendered five runs on nine hits, striking out one while walking three in the loss. Tyren Rivers' 3-for-5 outing atop the Highlander lineup paced the offense, while Jonathan Spears and Minter each contributed a pair of hits.

Keydet Quick Hits
? VMI reliever Chris Duty closed out both games played on Sunday, collecting the win in the conclusion of Saturday's suspended game before missing a save opportunity by one base runner while closing out Sunday's game.
? Freshman Sam Roberts ran his season-best hitting streak to eight games with a fifth-inning double. During the streak, Roberts is 11-for-29 (.379) with four doubles, seven runs scored and six RBI. He has also raised his on-base percentage to a team-best .440.
? Over the past six games, Brian Sandridge is 11-for-24 (.458) with two doubles, two home runs and ten RBIs while slugging .792.
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Players Mentioned

Jordan Ballard

#26 Jordan Ballard

IF
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Tanner Biagini

#24 Tanner Biagini

IF
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Chris Duty

#22 Chris Duty

RHP
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Jason Farley

#11 Jason Farley

LHP
6' 3"
Freshman
L/L
Shane Geisslinger

#2 Shane Geisslinger

IF
5' 8"
Senior
R/R
Alex Haitsuka

#28 Alex Haitsuka

C/OF
6' 3"
Freshman
R/R
Chris Henderson

#7 Chris Henderson

RHP
6' 0"
Junior
R/R
Justin Hess

#3 Justin Hess

IF/OF
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/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
Brian Sandridge

#31 Brian Sandridge

OF
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
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
Tanner Biagini

#24 Tanner Biagini

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
IF
Chris Duty

#22 Chris Duty

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Jason Farley

#11 Jason Farley

6' 3"
Freshman
L/L
LHP
Shane Geisslinger

#2 Shane Geisslinger

5' 8"
Senior
R/R
IF
Alex Haitsuka

#28 Alex Haitsuka

6' 3"
Freshman
R/R
C/OF
Chris Henderson

#7 Chris Henderson

6' 0"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Justin Hess

#3 Justin Hess

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/R
IF/OF
Mike Roberts

#6 Mike Roberts

6' 2"
Junior
R/R
C
Sam Roberts

#4 Sam Roberts

6' 2"
Freshman
L/R
IF/OF/P
Brian Sandridge

#31 Brian Sandridge

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
R/R
OF
A.J. Yoder

#10 A.J. Yoder

5' 11"
Junior
L/R
IF