LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Baseball stays perfect through the opening weekend of 2026 after taking both games of Saturday's doubleheader at Lamore Field at Gray-Minor Stadium.
The Keydets (4-0) earn four-straight wins to start a season in back-to-back years for the first time in program history after posting a 24-4 run-rule victory in game one, followed by a 9-4 win in game two. In its first four games, VMI has totaled 67 runs, topping the previous record set last season. The Runnin' Roos had a fast start as well, swiping 32 bags in four games.
Game 1 Key Stats
- VMI posted 24 runs off 18 hits with 19 RBIs.
- The Keydets swiped 13 bags by eight different players, with
Max Perry earning three.
- VMI had eight extra-base hits, including three home runs.
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Cole Cook drove in six runs thanks to a grand slam.
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Bradley Garner had four RBIs.
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Ayden Schnarrs went three-for-three with three runs.
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Cole Raile posted three hits and a team-high four runs.
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Owen Prince had three hits with three runs.
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Andrew Jones gets the win after tossing four innings with a pair of strikeouts.
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Buddy Baker pitched three solid innings to record the save.
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Grayson Fitzwater went two-for-three with two RBIs and two runs.
Game 1 Scoring Summary
- After a Fitzwater single and a throwing miscue by the Hornets, VMI got the first run of the game in the first inning.
- Delaware State bounced back in the second with three runs.
-VMI's speed got them one run back in the third.
- In the fourth inning, the Keydets mounted five runs to take a 7-3 lead. VMI got RBIs from Garner and Perry, then scored more runs after Raile stole home and
Brycen Hamilton hit his first collegiate home run.
- The Hornets were able to drive in one more in the fifth, but it was all Keydets in the bottom half, scoring eight more.
- VMI continued the surge in the sixth inning, starting with a Cook no-doubt grand slam, and ending with a Garner homer and Perry two-RBI single.
Game 2 Key Stats
- VMI tallied nine runs off nine hits with eight RBIs.
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Trace Monroe gets his first collegiate win on the bump after three innings in relief, allowing no runs and just one hit, with seven strikeouts.
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Grayson Fitzwater had a team-high three hits, with two doubles.
- Fitzwater and
Owen Prince each had two runs, while Fitzwater and
Ayden Schnarrs tallied two RBIs apiece.
- Batters one through six in the VMI lineup attested for all nine hits and eight RBIs.
- The Keydets totaled five stolen bases.
Game 2 Scoring Summary
- Delaware State came out swinging, scoring first in the opening frame.
- VMI quickly got back to work with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning, getting RBIs from Fitzwater and Schnarrs to make it 3-1.
- The Hornets cut the deficit to one in the second inning.
- It was a hefty second and third innings that put the Keydets up for good, scoring five runs split between the two frames.
- After VMI's ninth run was scored on a wild pitch in the eighth, Delaware State tried issuing a comeback with a pair of runs in the last inning, but it was the Keydets' bullpen that halted any damage.
Next up for the Keydets
The Keydets have their first road test of the campaign against Virginia. First pitch from Disharoon Park is set for 3 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+/ACCNX.
For more information, visit VMIKeydets.com or follow us on social media at VMI Athletics.
