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Baseball Sweeps Radford With 3-2 Win In 16 Innings

LEXINGTON, Va.? The 32nd player to step onto the field made the difference, as pinch-hitter Justin Topping's sacrifice fly to center field plated Brian Sandridge with the winning run in VMI's 3-2, 16-inning win over Radford on Monday evening at Gray-Minor Stadium. The game is believed to be the longest in the program histories of both VMI and RU.

With the win, VMI (15-15, 7-2 Big South) recorded its first home sweep of a Big South Conference opponent since taking all three games against High Point on May 13-15, 2006. The series sweep is VMI's second in League play this season, having dispatched High Point on the road two weekends ago. Radford (15-15, 2-4 Big South) dropped their fifth-straight contest to fall back to .500.

Sandridge (Brownsburg, Va./Rockbridge County) led off the 16th with a double into the right-centerfield gap, then moved to third base on a groundout by Jordan Ballard. Back-to-back intentional passes by John Lloyd (0-3) loaded them up for Topping.

The freshman drove reliever T.J. Woody's first delivery of the game to center field, where Mario Duarte made the catch and rifled home a throw. His relay skipped off the front of the mound, making for a difficult hop for catcher Nate Toth, as Sandridge's head-first slide mercifully ended the marathon.

Travis Smink (1-0) earned the win by no-hitting the Highlanders during his six innings of relief. The junior struck out six while collecting his first win since battling back from Tommy John surgery.

“I certainly can't say enough about Travis Smink,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “After not having his stuff to start the day yesterday, to throw as many innings as he did as well as he did was just unbelievable. Our guys came out and competed all day today after such a long day yesterday. To play 16 innings today after 11 innings yesterday is asking a lot of our guys, but they came through and got us a couple of big wins.”

Sandridge established a new school record for single-game at bats while going 4-for-8. He also matched a school-best with his three doubles. Tanner Biagini and Sam Roberts each went 3-for-7 in the win, with Roberts collecting his sixth double of the season. Alex Gregory went 3-for-6 with a home run to pace the Highlander attack.

Radford starter Mark Beppler allowed only an unearned run while working seven innings, scattering six hits. He was nearly matched by Keydet starter Michael Bowman, who allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits through seven innings.

With the score 2-1 in favor of Radford headed to the ninth, the Keydets rallied to send the game to extras. A leadoff single by Justin Hess preceded a sacrifice bunt and a ground out, moving the tying run to third base with two outs. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Biagini, who chopped Shane Pysh's 2-1 offering off of home plate nearly 30 feet into the air for an RBI single. VMI could not end it there, however, as Sandridge hit into an inning-ending fielder's choice.

The Keydets had their chances throughout the rest of the game, stranding eight of their season-high 21 runners on base in extra innings. VMI came closest to ending the affair in the 11th, when Biagini was thrown out at the plate on Sandridge's double into left-center field on a perfect relay throw from shortstop Ben Toth to his brother Nate at the plate. The Keydets also loaded the bases in the 15th with two outs, before Biagini flew out to left field to end the threat.

RU, meanwhile, managed only two base runners during the extra frames. Duty allowed a base knock to Alex Gregory in the tenth before an inning-ending double play, while Smink allowed only a two-out walk in the 13th to Nate Toth.

“I'm proud of the way our guys came back and won that game,” said Ikenberry, whose troops won their fifth-straight while coming from behind in each. “We had opportunities in a lot of different innings, and they dodged some bullets. We hit some balls hard that they caught, but we kept fighting and eventually got the win. When you get a chance to sweep a Big South team, it's really a special thing. Especially to do it against an in-state team, I'm really excited for our guys.”

The Keydets return to action on Tuesday evening, playing host to VCU at 6 p.m. at Gray-Minor Stadium.

Keydet Quick Hits
? With a 7-2 start to the conference season, VMI is off to their best start in league play since going 7-2 over the first three series in 1987, on their way to an 8-4 league mark and a runner-up finish in the Southern Conference Tournament.
? VMI fell one at bat short of the school record for team AB's, recording 55 in the game. The record stands at 56 against East Tennessee State (2/25/95), which previously stood as the longest game in VMI history at 15 innings.
? The Keydets set season highs in walks drawn (11), runners left on base (21), putouts (48) and assists (15).
? Sophomore Chris Duty appeared in VMI's sixth consecutive game, and has not allowed an earned run in his last seven relief appearances.
? Freshman Sam Roberts recorded a hit in his ninth-straight game, his longest hitting streak of the season. He is hitting 14-for-36 (.389) with five doubles and seven runs scored during the streak.
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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
Michael Bowman

#17 Michael Bowman

RHP
6' 3"
Junior
R/R
Chris Duty

#22 Chris Duty

RHP
6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
Justin Hess

#3 Justin Hess

IF/OF
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/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
Travis Smink

#35 Travis Smink

LHP
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L
Justin Topping

#5 Justin Topping

C/OF
5' 11"
Freshman
R/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
Michael Bowman

#17 Michael Bowman

6' 3"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Chris Duty

#22 Chris Duty

6' 3"
Sophomore
R/R
RHP
Justin Hess

#3 Justin Hess

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/R
IF/OF
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
Travis Smink

#35 Travis Smink

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
L/L
LHP
Justin Topping

#5 Justin Topping

5' 11"
Freshman
R/R
C/OF