Box Score Keydets Take Early Lead but Fall at #14 Virginia 14-5
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The VMI baseball team got ahead early on Tuesday, but #14 University of Virginia defeated the Keydets 14-5 in a non-conference game. It was VMI's 2021 season opener.
Red-shirt freshman catcher
Justin Starke gave VMI a 1-0 lead in the second frame with a solo HR to right field. Freshman centerfielder
Ty Swaim lifted a two-run, two-out single to bring home
Zac Morris and
Callen Nuccio and put the Keydets ahead 3-0 later in the inning.
Virginia plated six runs combined in the second and third innings and put the game out of reach with five more in the sixth. The Keydets scored two in the top of the ninth on a Nuccio single.
Starke finished 2-2 with three walks on the day, while Nuccio was 2-5.
Will Knight was hit by two pitches and had a single and Swaim also took two free passes.
Zack Gelof was 3-5 for the Cavaliers (3-1) with a home run, a double, three runs and two RBI. Chris Newell hit a grand slam as part of the five-run sixth inning.
The Keydets (0-1) are scheduled to host the New Jersey Institute of Technology this weekend in a four-game series. The contests are slated for a single game Friday at 3 p.m., a doubleheader Saturday at noon and another single game Sunday at 1 p.m. from Gray-Minor Field.
