LEXINGTON, Va. - A ninth-inning VMI rally fell just short, as the High Point Panthers held on for a 6-5 win over the Keydets in Big South baseball action Thursday night at Gray-Minor Stadium in Lexington, Va.
Trailing by two runs, Justin Hess led off the VMI (25-23-1, 12-13 Big South) ninth with a single. Sam Roberts then laced a double to left-center, and Graham Sullivan plated Hess with a sacrifice fly, making it 6-5, HPU (24-29, 9-16 Big South). Roberts went to third on the play, but George Piccirilli popped to shallow center field for the second out. After a walk to Alex Haitsuka, Jacob Morley flew out deep to center, ending the game.
Ryan Retz earned his first win of the season, moving to 1-2 with 5 2/3 innings of work. He allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits, but his key moment of the game came at the plate, where he hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning. Spencer Andrews pitched the ninth for his first save. Coby Cowgill (4-3) took the loss for VMI, giving up four runs in six-plus frames.
Offensively, the Keydets were led by Hess, who went 3 for 4 to raise his average in conference to .385. Roberts and Haitsuka also had multiple-hit games. For High Point, Robbie Gillis went 4 for 4.
The contest got underway as a pitcher's duel early on the warm, 75-degree day in Lexington. High Point loaded the bases in the first, but Cowgill induced a ground out to end the threat, and the Keydet sophomore pitched out of trouble again in the third.
The game remained scoreless until the VMI offense broke through in the fifth. Justin Topping led off with an infield hit, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Rob Dickinson walked, and one out later, Hess brought Topping home with an RBI single. Roberts then followed with an RBI double, scoring Dickinson, and the VMI shortstop then scored when Sullivan reached on a fielding error. When the dust had settled, the Keydets had a 3-0 lead at the end of five frames.
High Point came back quickly, scoring four times in the sixth to take the lead. The first three hitters all singled, a run capped by Murray White IV's RBI hit, cutting the VMI lead to 3-1. The next batter, Retz, hit a 1-0 pitch over the left center field wall to turn the game around, and give High Point a 4-3 advantage.
VMI threatened in the sixth, as Haitsuka led off with a single and was bunted up to second. Topping then grounded out, and Corey Swickle came out of the HPU bullpen to face Rob Dickinson. Swickle struck out the Keydet center fielder on a high fastball, ending the inning and preserving the Panthers' advantage.
The visitors got an insurance run in the seventh, when Sal Pezzino doubled and eventually scored on Gilles' RBI double off Alan Watts. VMI got that run back in the bottom half, when Piccirilli doubled home Chase Worthington to make it 5-4, HPU.
The Panthers nearly put the game away in the ninth. After an RBI single by Gilles put HPU up 6-4 with two men on, Travis Thomas committed a balk to move the runners to second and third, with just one out in the inning. Thomas then struck out White IV and Retz, keeping the deficit at two runs, and setting the stage for the high drama in the bottom half.
The Keydets will return to action Friday, playing host to High Point in the middle game of the three-game series. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
High Point at VMI (May 19, 2011 at Lexington, Va.)
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HPU 000 004 101 - 6 13 1 (24-29, 9-16 Big South)
VMI 000 030 101 - 5 12 1 (25-23-1, 12-13 Big South)
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HPU - Retz; Swickle (6); Andrews (9) and Mahoney.
VMI - Cowgill; Watts (6); Thomas (8) and Haitsuka.
W - Retz (1-2) S - Andrews (1) L - Cowgill (4-3) T- 2:46 A - 189
HR HPU - Retz (6)
