Four VMI pitchers combined on a five-hitter and struck out 12 en route to a 4-0 win over the Georgetown Hoyas in NCAA baseball action Saturday at Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem, N.C. The game was the fourth of Wake Forest’s opening weekend tournament.
VMI (2-1) jumped ahead early, scoring twice in the second and once more in the third, and that was all the pitching staff would need. Matthew Eagle threw five shutout innings and Jack Gomersall, Kyle Staats and Taylor Edens combined to finish out the shutout over the final four frames.
The quartet struck out 12 Hoyas (0-2) and allowed just one walk. Georgetown had only one hit over the final four innings.
Eagle (1-0) picked up the win with five innings, striking out six and walking one. He allowed four hits. Simon Mathews (0-1) took the loss, as the Keydets posted four runs – two earned – on nine hits over 5 2/3.
VMI jumped ahead in the second inning, as Friday’s star Tyler Tharp reached on an error. Matt Dunlevy hit a ground ball just fair down the third-base line for a double, and after a walk to Peyton Maddox, Jake Huggins singled home a run in his first collegiate at-bat. Nathan Eaton followed with a RBI single to put VMI up, 2-0.
The Keydets added on in the third, when Jacob Jaye scored on a double play ground ball to push the lead to 3-0.
It remained there until the fifth, when David Geary doubled home Eaton for a 4-0 lead. Eagle, meanwhile, ran into trouble in the fifth, but a strikeout and fly ball with two runners in scoring position put out the fire.
Neither team would score the rest of the way, but the four-run margin was more than enough for the VMI bullpen as the Keydets moved to 2-1 on the year.
Offensively, every Keydet starter, save one, reached base at least once. Eaton led the way with two hits and a walk in four plate appearances. Dante Ricciardi was the only Hoya with two hits.
VMI baseball will return to action and wrap up the Wake Forest Tournament Sunday at 2 p.m., when the Keydets take on the host Demon Deacons.
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