ASHEVILLE, N.C. – VMI Baseball (11-10) improves to a winning record for the first time in 2024 after defeating the University of North Carolina Asheville (10-9), 10-6, Sunday afternoon at Greenwood Field.
The Keydets put up double-digit runs in back-to-back games to secure the third series win of the young campaign. VMI scored 33 combined runs in the series, the most in a three-game series all season for the Keydets.
Key Stats
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Brett Cook led the Keydets at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs
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Andrew Jones threw five clean innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five, after coming in relief to pick up win number two on the year
- Bulldogs had five errors in the field, giving the Keydets five unearned runs
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Justin Starke and
Brett Cook tabbed a pair of home runs
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Kazuya Jordan secured his first triple of the season
- This is the fourth-straight contest where VMI earns 10+ hits
Breaking Down the Box Score
- VMI tallied the first score of the day after
Brett Cook reached on an error that scored a pair
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Ty Swaim added some insurance in the second after reaching on another Bulldog error that scored
Brett Cook
- In the third inning,
Justin Starke powered out a scoreboard-clearing bomb to make it 4-2 Keydets
- Bulldogs answered with a loud homer in the top half of the third
- After the homer,
Andrew Jones came in from the bullpen to shut down any more UNC Asheville threats
- VMI retaliated with key offensive plays, starting with sacrifice bunts from
Owen Prince and
Ryan Peterson that scored a pair of runs in the fourth
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Brett Cook continued his ways with an RBI single in the fifth to make it 7-4 VMI
- More Bulldogs miscues resulted in a couple more runs for VMI with
Kazuya Jordan scoring unearned on a sacrifice fly and
Trey Morgan following behind on a passed ball
- Despite letting UNC Asheville score on a wild pitch, VMI's offense returned the blow in the eighth with a shot over the centerfield wall from
Brett Cook to double up the Bulldogs, 10-5
- Bulldogs started a rally in the ninth but
Marcus Van Alstine shut them down with two strikeouts
Next Up for the Keydets
- Keydets return to Gray-Minor Stadium for a mid-week matchup with Radford University
- First pitch is slated for Tuesday at 3 p.m. and you can watch the entire game on ESPN+
- Highlanders owns the 31-18 series advantage, winning nine of the last 10 matchups
- VMI won the last meeting after a stunning 17-7 decision in Lexington last season
