JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – VMI Baseball opened the Southern Conference slate with a tight loss against East Tennessee State on Friday afternoon at Thomas Stadium.
The Keydets (20-5, 0-1 SoCon) held the lead through six innings, but the Buccaneers (18-6, 3-1 SoCon) rallied in the seventh to take the 6-5 victory in the series opener.
Key Stats
- VMI had five runs off nine hits.
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Grayson Fitzwater went two-for-three with two RBIs and a home run.
- Dazzling out of the bullpen was
Andrew Jones, who threw 3.2 innings with a season-high six strikeouts.
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Owen Prince recorded three singles.
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Cole Raile crushed his seventh home run of the season and barrelled a double, tallying two RBIs.
- All five runs scored were from the one through five batters in the lineup.
Scoring Summary
First Inning: Fitzwater rocketed his 10th homer of the season, a solo shot to right field, followed by a Raile double to make it 2-0.
Second Inning: The Bucs bounced back to tie it at two apiece.
Third Inning: A Fitzwater RBI single followed by trickery on the base paths made it 4-2.
Sixth Inning: VMI took a three-run lead after Raile hit a towering solo shot to left field. However, ETSU cut the deficit to just two in the bottom half.
Seventh Inning: The Bucs' big break came late, getting a pair of RBI doubles to shift the score and momentum.
Next up for the Keydets
The Keydets continue the conference series on Saturday. A new start time has been set for 3 p.m.
For more information, visit VMIKeydets.com or follow us on social media at VMI Athletics.
