LEXINGTON, Va. ? Longwood jumped out to an early lead and fought off a late rally by VMI to score an 11-8 win in non-conference baseball action on Wednesday evening at Gray-Minor Stadium.
The Lancers (21-12) accounted for eight of their 11 runs on home runs, including two by senior catcher Jonathan Quigley. The Keydets (13-22), trailing 9-1 in the fifth inning, fought back with seven straight runs to cut the margin to 9-8 before Brant Jones' two-run dinger in the eighth capped the scoring at 11-8.
“I thought we played better baseball today than yesterday,” said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. “We're going to give up some runs in mid-week games. Until we can find somebody to put up zeroes in mid-week games, we're going to have to hang onto our hats.”
Troy Dickman (3-1) worked seven innings while allowing eight runs, seven earned, and striking out six for the Lancers on the mound. Paul Heidler II came on to work the final two innings, notching his first save of the season by allowing just two hits.
The Lancers plated single runs in the first two innings before Casey Havers and Quigley hit back-to-back solo home runs in the third off of Keydet starter Michael Devine (0-2). The Keydets plated a run on Tanner Biagini's base knock in the bottom of the inning, bringing the score to 4-1.
After a scoreless fourth thrown by Devine, the freshman was lifted in favor of reliever Andrew Deal. Deal failed to retire any of the three batters he faced, allowing a run to score, before Chris Henderson came on. The senior hit the first batter he faced before giving up a first-pitch grand slam to Quigley, bringing the margin to 9-1 before an out was recorded in the fifth.
Henderson, however, rebounded by retiring nine of the next 11 batters he faced. The Keydet offense, meanwhile, cut into the margin with a two-run home run by Jordan Ballard in the fifth and a five-run rally in the seventh. In the frame, Alex Haitsuka and Brian Sandridge had back-to-back RBI knocks before Graham Sullivan delivered a three-run home run to bring the score to 9-8.
The Lancers answered in the eighth, as Jones' home run pushed the margin back to three runs. The Keydets managed just single base runners in the eighth and ninth, failing to bring the tying run to the plate the rest of the way.
Four Lancers had two hits in the contest, led by Quigley's two-home run outing. Jones and Havers each went 2-for-4 with a home run, while David Smiy, Jr. notched a pair of doubles.
VMI was led at the plate by Jordan Ballard, who went 4-for-5 with a home run and two driven in, while Sandridge had his second three-hit game in as many days.
The Keydets return to action on Friday afternoon, playing the first of a three-game series at Radford. First pitch is set for 3 p.m., and the game will be broadcast by the VMI Sports Network both online at www.VMIKeydets.com and locally in Lexington on WREL 1450 AM.
