LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Baseball started the Southern Conference series with an 11-8 win over Samford Thursday night at Lamore Field at Gray-Minor Stadium.
The Keydets (25-14, 5-5 SoCon) earn their fifth league victory and fourth-straight triumph after defeating the Bulldogs in the first of a three-game series. This is VMI's first series-opening win against Samford since 2017.
Key Stats
- VMI earned 11 runs off 13 hits with 11 RBIs.
- The Keydets drew six walks.
-
Kazuya Jordan went three for four with a triple and three stolen bases.
-
Owen Prince tallied a trio of hits, including a double, along with two RBIs.
-
Ryan Peterson smashed a grand slam.
-
Justin Spiegel set the Keydets up for success in his first career start, tossing a career-high eight strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
-
Bradley Garner and
Grayson Fitzwater each tallied two hits and two runs.
- Fitzwater extended his on-base streak to 34 games.
-
Ayden Schnarrs had a triple.
-
James Newsome scored twice.
-
Nathan Hawley picks up the win after going 3.2 innings in relief with a pair of strikeouts while allowing just two hits in the final three innings.
- With a walk in the eighth inning,
Boston Torres has now reached base safely in all 39 games.
- This is the 22nd game VMI has scored double-digit runs.
Scoring Summary
- Samford scored in the opening frame to go up 1-0.
- VMI rebounded in the fourth inning with a pair of runs that started with a Jordan fielder's choice and ended with a Prince infield single to make it 2-1.
- In the fifth inning, Schnarrs drove in one run off a bases-loaded hit by pitch right before Peterson hit a grand slam to right field that opened the Keydets' lead to 7-1.
- However, Samford mounted a seven-run sixth inning that flipped the script.
- In the bottom half of the sixth, VMI once again answered, this time off back-to-back RBIs by Torres and
Cole Raile that put the Keydets back in front, 9-8.
- VMI added a couple of insurance runs in the seventh, with Prince and Garner earning back-to-back doubles to give the Keydets another double-digit outing.
Next up for the Keydets
The Keydets welcome back Samford for game two of the series on Friday at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit VMIKeydets.com or follow us on social media at VMI Athletics.
