LEXINGTON, Va. – The VMI baseball team enters this week's upcoming Southern Conference baseball tournament, presented by Holston Gases, as the no. 5 seed, the highest spot for the program in five years. The entire eight-team tournament will be held at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., the home of the Greenville Drive baseball team, the High-A East affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
VMI opens competition with an elimination game against #8 seed The Citadel at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The winner will advance to the double-elimination part of the bracket and next face no. 4 seed ETSU Thursday at 3 p.m. VMI was picked to finish seventh in the coaches' preseason poll and eighth by the league's media members.
*The VMI Alumni Association is offering tickets to its suite for the game. Click the link below to purchase!
Game 1 Suite Tickets
Tournament Details:
Tournament Bracket (PDF)
Championship Central
Regular-Season Highlights:
It has already been an historic season for the Keydets, who enter the tournament with a 26-28 record after going 9-11 in SoCon action. Some of the noteworthy accomplishments include:
*The Keydets lead NCAA Division I with 189 stolen bases, 27 ahead of the second-place team. VMI broke the NCAA Division I record for most stolen bases in an inning with nine in the second frame against Norfolk State University on March 19, breaking a mark that had been on the books since the 1993 season. The Keydets stole 14 bags total in that contest against NSU to break the school record for stolen bases in a game.
*VMI is sixth in the nation with a .324 batting average, is 14
th with 598 hits and ranks 20
th with 445 runs. The Keydets are sixth with 134 doubles, 16
th with a .535 slugging percentage and 27
th with a .411 on base percentage.
*VMI's SoCon winning percentage is the best for the team since 2018 and 26 total wins ties the 2018 squad. With a victory Wednesday against the Bulldogs, it would mark the most wins for the program since 2011.
*Two Keydets were named to national watch lists this spring;
Zac Morris on the Brooks Wallace (SS) Award Watch List and
Trey Morgan for the John Olerud Two-Way Player Watch List.
*VMI gained national recognition in just the second game of the season by rallying back from a 10-1 deficit to defeat Mississippi State, the 2021 National Champion, 14-13.
*Junior right fielder
Cole Jenkins earned Perfect Game/Rawlings National Player of the Week honors on April 10, VMI's first national player of the week since 2018. Jenkins also was the SoCon Player of the Month for April, while Jenkins, Morris and
Justin Starke were recognized as conference player of the week at various points during the season.
Will Riley earned SoCon Pitcher of the Week accolades on April 17.
About The Citadel:
The Bulldogs are 22-29 overall and finished the SoCon slate with a 7-14 record. The Citadel captured a conference series against VMI in Charleston May 5-7, winning two out of three games. VMI won the series finale 3-2.
Travis Lott has a team-best .331 batting average with 31 walks for a .469 on base percentage. Thomas Rollauer has a .321 average, 38 runs and 15 doubles. Cameron Reeves is the team's ace, posting a 3.62 ERA with a 7-5 record and 64 strikeouts in 74.2 innings.
