LEXINGTON, Va. – The VMI baseball team welcomes East Tennessee State University (ETSU) to Gray-Minor Field this weekend for a three-game Southern Conference series. All three contests will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Game times are set for a single game Friday at 4 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday starting at 1 p.m. These are the Keydets' final home games of the 2021 season, and the program's nine seniors will be honored between games of the Saturday twinbill, approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.

Freshman Cole Jenkins blasted two home runs Tuesday evening to lead VMI to a 9-5 win over visiting Norfolk State University. Jenkins hit a solo shot to left field in the third and followed with a two-run homer in the fourth to make it a 6-2 game. Reeves Whitmore blasted a two-run home run to left field in the eighth. Red-shirt junior Sam Ewald got the start on the hill and earned the first win of his career, tossing three innings on a staff day. Nathan Light and Tyler Bradt each threw two scoreless innings of relief, combining for five strikeouts and allowing just one hit. Jenkins finished 3-5 with two runs and four RBI while Callen Nuccio was 2-2 with three walks.

ETSU took two of three against VMI in Johnson City, Tenn. in mid-March. The Keydets took the middle game 6-3, scoring six runs in the final three innings to rally from a 2-0 deficit. Jacob Menders got the start and allowed just one hit over 6 2/3 innings, with six strikeouts, four walks and two earned runs. Ryan Huffman earned the win in relief, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth.

The Bucs are 21-22 overall and 10-13 in conference play.