Baseball Releases 2011 Schedule

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Baseball Climbs to 26th in Collegiate Baseball Poll to Reach Highest-Ever Ranking

TUCSON, Ariz.- VMI won twice against in-state foes and scored its second Big South road sweep in as many weekends to earn its highest-ever national ranking, as Collegiate Baseball tabbed the Keydets 26th in its weekly poll on Monday.  VMI also gained 14 votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll and received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll in other voting announced Monday.

VMI (28-5, 10-2 Big South) began the week with a 14-1 dispatching of Longwood before exacting revenge for a previous loss by defeating one of the CAA's top teams, JMU, 3-2.  The Keydets then went on the road in Big South play for the third time in four weeks and swept a Gardner-Webb club that entered the series second in the league at 5-1.  VMI took game one of the series 7-5 and won the weekend with a 13-6 victory Saturday.  On Sunday, the Keydets pounded out a 16-10 win, posting its best offensive output against a league foe in over a year.

With the series win, VMI has now won each of its eight weekend series in 2010, including six sweeps.  In fact, VMI stands 23-2 in weekend games this season, suffering one-run losses to High Point (15-14) and Charleston Southern (1-0) in conference play.  The team's RPI has also climbed to 50th nationally, according to Boyd Nation's RPI calculation available at www.BoydsWorld.com.

VMI's 28 wins are tied with No. 2 Arizona State for the most in the country, just ahead of the 27 wins posted by No. 1 Virginia, No. 5 Georgia Tech and No. 9 Coastal Carolina.  The 28 wins also rank as the fourth-most in school history, just six behind the school-record total of 34 posted in 2007.

The Keydets received 22 votes in this week's Coaches' Poll, besting last week's total of eight that ranked as the most the program had ever received.  That total tied VMI with North Carolina for the 31st-highest total in this week's poll.  By comparison, UC Irvine totaled 40 votes to claim 25th in the poll.  This week also marked the fifth consecutive week VMI was listed as receiving votes in the Writers' Poll.

The Keydets are off to their best start in school history, four games ahead of the 2007 squad that began the year 24-9.  The team has already broken the school mark for home runs in a season and ranks among the top five nationally in slugging percentage (.595), runs (305), hits (425), doubles (92), home runs (59), total bases (714) and RBIs (286.)

The "Collegiate Baseball" newspaper poll is the oldest college baseball poll. Its birth took place during the 1957 college baseball season.

VMI has now won eight games in a row for the third time this season, and return to action Wednesday evening as No. 1 Virginia comes to Gray-Minor Stadium for a 6 p.m. contest.  The game will mark the first time that two nationally-ranked baseball teams will meet on Post.  Fans attending the game are strongly encouraged to purchase their tickets in advance and to park either behind Marshall Hall or in the nose-in parking spots on Parade Ave.  Fans not in attendance can listen to the game via the VMI Sports Network, either online at www.VMIKeydets.com or on Lexington's Fox Sports Radio 1450 AM, or watch the game on the Big South Network, available at www.BigSouthSports.com.
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