N. CHARLESTON, S.C. – For the second straight game, the VMI Keydets brought the tying run to the plate during a late-inning rally, but once again, the VMI comeback fell short as the Keydets dropped a 7-4 decision to the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in Big South baseball action Sunday in North Charleston, S.C. The game was the finale of a three-game conference series.
Trailing 7-1, VMI's (18-21, 5-7 Big South) Ray Lopez led off the eighth inning with a walk. Drew Bryan then singled, and pinch-hitter Sheldon Shifflett bounced into a fielder's choice. Jordan Tarsovich then hit a hard ground ball down the left field line for a double, scoring Lopez to make it 7-2. Cameron Walter grounded out, scoring Shifflett and ending CSU (14-22, 5-7 BSC) starter Kevin Buran's day.
Zach Hagaman relieved and was greeted by a Rob Dickinson RBI single that scored Tarsovich, cutting the deficit to 7-4. Matt Winn then drilled a single to left, extending his hitting streak to 13 games and bringing Red Dowdell up as the tying run. Dowdell swung at the first pitch and drilled a fly ball to left, but the drive was caught by Brian Welch in left to retire the side. VMI then managed just a single in the ninth as CSU prevailed, 7-4, and took the series, 2-1.
Buran (2-6) picked up the win by going 7 2/3 innings and giving up four runs, three of which came in the eighth. He struck out nine, walked two and, after a Bryan second-inning double, did not allow another hit until Bryan's eighth-inning single. Reed Garrett took the loss for VMI, dropping to 2-4 in his first start since March 8. Garrett allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Keydets jumped ahead in the first on the overcast day, when Tarsovich led off with a double to right. One out later, Dickinson singled him home to put VMI up, 1-0. The senior then stole second and, when the ball got away from CSU catcher Drew Woodall, advanced to third, but Winn and Dowdell were retired without further incident.
CSU took the lead for good in the fourth, when Alex Tomasovich led off with a single. Two outs later, Welch walked and Jaren Sustar followed with a single up the middle, scoring Tomasovich to tie the game, 1-1. The next batter, Chase Shelton, laced a two-run double to right center to score two runs and put the home team ahead, 3-1.
The Bucs added a run in the fifth on a single by Hagaman, and tallied three more in the sixth. Woodall led off with a single against Andrew Montague, and moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Sustar singled him home to increase the Bucs lead to 5-1. Shelton then walked, and one out later, a wild pitch put runners at second and third. Kevin Hickey then bounced a two-run single just past a diving Bryan and into right field, making it a 7-1 contest.
Neither team scored in the seventh, setting the stage for the eighth-inning and the Keydet comeback attempt.
Offensively, Dickinson, Tarsovich and Bryan had two hits apiece, with Bryan picking up five hits in the three-game series and Dickinson notching seven. Sustar and Shelton had three hits each for the home team.
VMI baseball will return to action Wednesday, as the Keydets travel to The Diamond in Richmond to take on the VCU Rams. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
