LEXINGTON, Va. – Zac Morris and Justin Nase each had four hits Saturday as the VMI baseball team outscored Western Carolina University 14-8 in a Southern Conference game in Gray-Minor Stadium.

Nase, a red-shirt junior outfielder, set a career high for hits in a game and he also scored twice with a triple and two RBI. The Keydets had 19 basehits on the day while each of the nine starting position players recorded a hit.

Freshman right-hander Tyler Kaltreider struck out a career-high 11 batters, the most for a VMI pitcher since the 2019 season. He earned his second win of the year, working 6.1 innings.

Ty Swaim went 2-5 with two runs, three RBI and a double while Brett Cook was also 2-5 with a home run, two runs, two RBI and a walk. JT Inskeep had two hits, including a double, and Trey Morgan had two hits with a double. Jed Barrett was 1-3 with two walks, three runs and two stolen bases and Will Knight had a hit and two walks.

An eight-run third inning gave the Keydets a 9-0 early lead. The Catamounts scored two in the fourth but VMI countered with three in the bottom of the frame to push the lead to 12-2. WCU scored five runs in the final three innings, but the large early deficit proved too much.

Pascanel Ferreras was 2-5 with three RBI, a double and a home run for WCU (19-23/4-7 SoCon).

The game was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. but was pushed back to a 4 p.m. first pitch due to rain in the Lexington area. The third and final game of the three-game series on Sunday has been moved ahead from 1 p.m. to 10 a.m. due to the threat of inclement weather.

VMI improves to 13-30 overall and 4-7 in SoCon play.