VMI baseball completes doubleheader sweep

The VMI Keydets jumped out to a 4-0 lead early and never looked back en route to a 7-3 win over the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs in the nightcap of a non-conference doubleheader contested Saturday in Boiling Springs, N.C.

After winning game one, the Keydets (12-21) saw Matt Winn walk with one out in the second inning. Will Connerley followed with a single and then Collin Fleischer doubled to right, scoring both runs to stake the Keydets to a 2-0 lead.

Thomas Stallings followed with a two-run blast to center field to make it 4-0, and although Gardner-Webb (18-22) pulled within two in the middle innings, two runs in the ninth accounted for the final margin.

Brandon Barbery (4-2) snapped a two-game losing streak with the victory, as he pitched into the sixth inning and gave up three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out three. Mitch Warner (2-4) allowed five runs in five innings to take the loss.

Taylor Edens saved the win, his ninth save of the season, with three innings of scoreless relief. Edens saved both ends of a doubleheader for the second time in three weeks (April 4), and is now five shy of the Keydet single-season record set in 2007.

After taking the 4-0 lead in the second, VMI added on in the fourth. Brandon Angus led off with a bunt single and was bunted to second. He then stole third and scored when Jordan Tarsovich bounced to second and the throw home popped out of the glove of catcher Blair Huggins, allowing the Keydets to go up, 5-0.

GWU scored three times in the sixth to knock Barbery from the game, but with two on and two out, Jack Gomersall struck out Matt Simmons to end the threat.

The Keydets added on in the ninth, as a David Geary RBI infield out and a Connerley RBI single accounted for the final margin. It was not without drama, however, as GWU loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and brought the tying run to the plate. Edens induced a 4-3 groundout to end the game and preserve the victory.

Offensively, Fleischer, Winn and connerley all had two hits to lead the Keydets, while Patrick Graham had the lone multi-hit game for GWU.

VMI baseball will return to action Tuesday, when the Keydets play host to the Tribe of William & Mary at 6 p.m.