BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – VMI Baseball (12-12) opened up its series at Samford (15-7) on Saturday, putting up a fight but dropping both ends of a doubleheader at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
The Keydets fell in seven innings (14-4) in game one and would hold a lead entering the bottom half of the eighth in game two before the bats of the Bulldogs carried Samford to a 16-9 win. VMI and Samford will close out the series Sunday afternoon, with first pitch slated for 2:00 p.m.
 
Game 1 Key Stats
- VMI had three home runs by the third inning
- All three bombs were solo shots
- Justin Starke secured his eighth homer of the season
- Cole Jenkins and Justin Starke each tallied a pair of hits and an RBI
- Cole Raile got on base in all three plate appearances by drawing two walks and a hit by pitch

Game 1 Scoring Summary
- Keydets struck first with two second-inning home runs by Grayson Fitzwater and Ty Swaim to take a 2-0 lead
- Samford returned fire and knotted it up at two apiece after two innings
- VMI scored again in the third inning thanks to a Justin Starke shot to centerfield to make it 3-2 Keydets
- Bulldogs made a 5-0 run through the next four innings to take a 7-4 advantage after six innings
- Keydets never gave up, adding one run in the seventh with a RBI single from Cole Jenkins
- Samford would tally seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to force the run rule
 
Game 2 Key Stats
- VMI drew eight walks and two hit-by-pitches
- Keydets racked up 13 hits with seven RBI
- VMI was quick on the base paths, stealing eight bags to mark the second most in a game in 2024
- Trey Morgan stroked his first homer of the season en route to going 3-for-4 at the dish with two RBI, two walks, and three runs
- Kazuya Jordan knocked the first home run of his young career while going 2-for-2 with a trio of walks, three runs, and a triple
- Brett Cook picked up a pair of RBI
- Justin Starke went an impressive 3-for-5 at the plate
- Will Riley provided big innings on the bump for VMI, going 7.1 innings with eight strikeouts

Game 2 Scoring Summary
- VMI once again scored first after a lead-off solo shot from Trey Morgan
- Samford responded accordingly with a pair of runs in the opening frame to take a 2-1 lead
- Bulldogs added another run to extend the Samford lead to two
- Keydets answered in the fifth inning with four powerful runs
- Justin Starke started the surge with an RBI single to score Kazuya Jordan
- After a couple of Samford pitching miscues, VMI had two cross the plate to take a 4-3 lead
- The big fifth inning ended right after Brett Cook tabbed another run on a fielder's choice
- VMI picked up where they left off in the sixth inning when Trey Morgan doubled and then later scored for two more runs, 7-3
- In the top of the seventh, Kazuya Jordan rocketed the Keydets' fifth home run of the day
- Samford answered in the bottom of the seventh with a run but it did not take long for VMI to get it back as Ty Swaim singled in a run to hold a 9-4 advantage
- However, the Bulldogs used a come-from-behind effort to flip the script, putting up 12 runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning
 
Next Up for the Keydets
- Keydets end the SoCon series tomorrow against the Bulldogs
- First pitch is set for 2 p.m. (ET)
- Broadcast will be live on ESPN+