RADFORD, Va. - Chase Worthington tied a school record with three sacrifice bunts, Alan Watts held down the Radford offense in the middle innings and Graham Sullivan ended a late RU rally by throwing out a runner at home as the VMI Keydets earned a 10-7 win over Radford Saturday in Big South baseball action in Radford, Va.
The contest was the resumption of Friday night's game, which had been suspended due to severe weather. A doubleheader had been planned for Saturday, but game two was postponed until Sunday due to further rain moving through the Radford area.
With VMI leading, 5-4, Watts (2-0) relieved Coby Cowgill to start the fourth. He worked a season-high four innings, allowing just two runs, and after scoring five times in the seventh, VMI took a 10-5 edge to the eighth.
A leadoff home run by Cory Turner ended Watts' day, and John Garrett came on to get the next two batters. With two out, however, RU (16-13, 2-5 BSC) strung together three consecutive hits. The last of those, a single by Robert Lamas, was fielded cleanly by Sullivan. He charged the ball and got off a strong throw to catcher Alex Haitsuka, who fielded the ball slightly to the third base dugout side and tagged runner Ryan Burgess out, ending the inning. Radford would score one in the ninth, but Sam Roberts closed out the game without further incident, preserving the Keydet (15-14-1, 5-5 BSC) win.
Watts earned the win for VMI with his four innings of work, striking out four and not walking a hitter. He now has struck out 21 hitters this season without walking a batter. Derrick Brewer (0-3) took the loss for Radford.
The Keydets jumped ahead in the first inning, played Friday night before nearly 1,100 fans on dedication night at Radford's remodeled baseball facility. Roberts led off with a double, but was forced at third on a ground ball by Sullivan. George Piccirilli walked, and Alex Haitsuka followed with a single that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. With the bases loaded, Jacob Morley singled home a run, and the next batter, Justin Topping, was hit by a pitch to force in a second run.
VMI took that 2-0 lead to the second, and added a run in that frame as well. Justin Hess led off with a single, and Roberts followed with his second straight double, scoring Hess and putting VMI up, 3-0.
In the bottom of the inning, the skies opened up and the game was officially suspended until Saturday. It resumed with two outs, and Coby Cowgill got the final out of that frame Saturday afternoon, some 17 hours after the inning had begun.
Cowgill then ran into trouble in the third, as a single and two walks loaded the bases. Matt Mack then singled home two runs, cutting the Keydet lead to one, and an Alex Guerra groundout tied the game, 3-3. Cowgill then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Mack to score and giving Radford its first lead, 4-3.
The Keydets came right back in the fourth, as with the bases loaded and one out, Jacob Morley hit a ground ball back to the mound. Pitcher Brad Wimmer came home with the ball, retiring one runner, but Lamas uncorked a wild throw to first, allowing two runs to score and giving VMI the lead once again, 5-4.
Radford tied the game in the fifth with a single run, but the Keydets broke it open in the seventh. With one out, Topping was hit by a pitch once again, and Worthington got down the second of his sacrifice bunts to move him up a base. Hess then singled to right, scoring Topping to put VMI up, 6-5. Roberts then hit a ground ball to second baseman Brett Mollenhauer, who saw the ball go through his legs into short right-center. Hess, running on contact, scored easily to push the lead to two.
Sullivan then followed with a single, and after a wild pitch and a walk loaded the bases, Haitsuka roped a pitch down the left-field line for a three-run double, clearing the bases and giving the visitors a 10-5 edge. Radford scored once in each of the final two innings, but with the bases full of Highlanders, Roberts retired the game's final two hitters without incident to preserve the victory.
The Keydets were led offensively by Hess, who went 3 for 5 and is now batting .457 in conference play. Sullivan went 2 for 6 with three runs scored, and Haitsuka was 2 for 5 with three RBI, as he equaled the Keydets' longest hitting streak of the season with his 13-game run. Worthington's three sacrifices all came in the fifth inning or later, and tied the school record previously set by Patrick Abelon in 1997.
VMI baseball will return to action Sunday, as the Keydets and Radford will play a doubleheader at Radford's baseball facility. Game one is set for a 1 p.m. start time, and will be broadcast on WREL in the Lexington area, as well as VMIKeydets.com. Game two, which will not be broadcast by VMI, will follow shortly thereafter.
Radford vs. VMI (April 8, 2011 at Radford, Va.)
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VMI . 210 200 500 - 10 13 0 (15-14-1, 5-5)
RU 004 010 011 - 7 14 3 (16-13, 2-5)
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VMI - Cowgill; Watts (4); Garrett (8); Roberts (9) and Haitsuka
RU - Butler; Brewers (3); Wimmer (4); Patten (7); Palese (7) and Lamas.
W - Watts (2-0) L - Brewer (0-3) T - 2:40 A - 1085
HR RU - Turner (1)
