LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Baseball (12-10) was down by two late in the eighth inning until Cole Raile stepped up to the plate and sent the game-winning home run to the top of the left field hill at Gray-Minor Stadium en route to a 9-8 victory over Radford University (7-12) on Tuesday afternoon.

The Keydets notch their third-straight victory and have won six of their last seven games. After securing their eighth home win of the season, VMI has its sights set on Samford University this weekend for the Southern Conference opener.

Key Stats
- Keydets swiped seven bags, the second most in a single game this season
- Cole Raile knocked his fourth homer of 2024
- Trackman projected the game-winning home run to go 432 feet and 111 mph off the bat
- Grayson Fitzwater and Brett Cook tacked on two hits apiece 
- Brett Cook and Owen Prince each scored twice for VMI
- Evan Parmer earned his first-career win on the bump after tossing 1.1 innings and allowing just one hit
- Marcus Van Alstine shut down the final three Highlanders to get save number six
- Six different Keydets pitchers made an appearance today
- Highlanders outhit the Keydets, 10-8, and marks only the second time this season VMI has won despite losing the hitting battle
- Keydets had just two extra-base hits
 

Scoring Summary
- Radford started scoring early after a sacrifice fly and back-to-back home runs put the Highlanders up 4-0 after the top of the first
- VMI got one back immediately after Justin Starke scored on an RBI groundout assisted by Cole Jenkins
- Even though Radford put up another run in the second, VMI quickly returned fire with a Grayson Fitzwater single to add a pair of runs to pull within two
- In the fourth down 6-3, a successful pickle by Grayson Fitzwater brought Owen Prince to the plate right before Kazuya Jordan scored from second off a throwing error by the Radford pitcher
- Down by three in the eighth inning, VMI put up an unreal comeback
- It started with an RBI from Owen Prince to pull within two before Cole Raile was called to pinch-hit and strike a two-out, three-run bomb over the left-field scoreboard to put the Keydets up, 9-8
- Marcus Van Alstine set down the Highlanders 1-2-3 to seal Radford's fate
 
Next Up for the Keydets
- Keydets hit the road for the SoCon opening series against Samford
- Game one is Friday at 7 p.m., game two is Saturday at 3 p.m., and Sunday's matinee is at 2 p.m.
- All games will be broadcast live on ESPN+
- Samford leads the all-time series, 23-8
- However, VMI got the best of the Bulldogs last year when the Keydets won 8-7
- Bulldogs have won 10 of the last 12 meetings