LEXINGTON, Va. - A four-run fifth inning by VMI tied the game, but Radford answered with 10 runs in the final four innings to defeat the Keydets, 15-6, in Big South Conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium. The win assures the Highlanders (23-19, 10-7 Big South) of the series win, while the loss clinches a third straight series loss for the Keydets (29-16, 10-10).
Raphael Turner hit his sixth and seventh home runs of the season for the visitors, scoring four runs and driving in three. Alex Guerra and Matt Mack each went 4 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs, as the middle three batters in the Highlander lineup combined for 11 hits, four home runs and nine RBIs.
Eddie Butler (5-3) picked up the victory, surrendering five runs, two earned, on seven hits in his six innings. Abram Williams worked two innings for the Highlanders, allowing a single run, before Derrick Brewer worked a scoreless ninth.
Starter Jason Farley was the first of six pitchers to see action for the Keydets, being charged with four runs on eight hits through three innings. VMI's fifth-inning rally took him off the hook, as Ryan Barefoot (0-1) suffered the loss by allowing three runs in 2.1 innings.
Rob Dickinson and Sam Roberts each had a pair of hits for VMI, with Dickinson scoring twice and driving in a run. Jordan Ballard plated two with his fifth-inning single, while Graham Sullivan's first-inning double was the Keydets' only extra-base hit of the afternoon.
Radford batted around in the second inning, scoring two runs on Robert Lamas' double and another on Brett Mollenhauer's groundout. Farley left the bases loaded, however, and left two more stranded in the third after allowing Guerra's leadoff home run.
The Keydets cut the advantage to 4-1 in the home-half of the third, scoring an unearned run. Dickinson opened the inning with a hit and reached second on a passed ball. A sacrifice bunt and a Roberts groundout brought him around with VMI's first run of the day. The Highlanders struck right back off of Barefoot, as Turner connected for a two-out home run to push the lead to 5-1.
VMI then posted its best rally in two weeks, striking for four runs in the fifth. Dickinson's knock up the middle plated the first run, before a Cory Spangenberg single brought home Dickinson. Two batters later, Ballard connected for his two-run single into right-center field, chasing home Roberts and Spangenberg to tie the game.
Radford answered immediately by scoring three in the sixth. Those came on a Reggie Keen single and a two-run home run from Turner. VMI mustered one run in the seventh to make it an 8-6 contest, but the Highlanders exploded for four in the eighth and three in the ninth to push the game out of reach.
The series concludes Sunday afternoon, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. Fans can watch the game online on the Big South Network, available at www.BigSouthSports.com, or listen to the game on the VMI Sports Network, available on Lexington's Fox Sports Radio 1450 AM, or online at www.VMIKeydets.com.
