VMI baseball slugs six homers, wins at Furman, 12-11

The VMI Keydets hit six home runs, one shy of the school record, and Taylor Edens picked up his second save of the doubleheader as the Keydets held off the Furman Paladins, 12-11, in the nightcap of a SoCon twinbill contested Saturday at Latham Stadium in Greenville, S.C. With the victory, the Keydets took the series two games to one and swept a conference doubleheader for the first time since April 3, 2010.

Stallings led the way for the Keydets, one game after posting a career-high four hits. He hit two of VMI’s six home runs as the Keydets jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the sixth, behind a home run outburst that was the most for VMI since hitting a school record seven against Gardner-Webb in 2009. Furman, however, closed to within 12-11 after a double steal ended the seventh.

Edens escaped a jam in the eighth with a one-run lead, but Sims Griffith reached on a passed ball following a strikeout with one out in the ninth. Kyle Simmons pinch-ran and stole second, and after a flyout by Carter Grote, Jake Jones bounced out to Jacob Jaye to end the game as Edens picked up his second save of the day and sixth of the year.

In addition to Stallings, Matt Winn, Jordan Tarsovich, Will Connerley and Brandon Angus all homered, with Tarsovich’s and Connerley’s both being their second of the day.

The Keydets jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when Connerley led off the second with a single, and Stallings hit a 2-2 pitch over the left center field wall for a two-run shot, his second of the day.

Furman got a run back in the second, but Tarsovich walked to start the third and stole second. One out later, Winn plated a run with a sacrifice fly. Angus followed with a home run to straight away left to put the Keydets up 4-1, but that was just the start of the barrage.

Connerley followed with a solo shot to knock out Will Gattis, VMI’s first back to back home runs since March of 2013. Stallings then greeted reliever William Quarles with a titanic home run into the left center field trees to put the Keydets ahead 6-1. With the long ball, Stallings became the first Keydet since April 9, 2010 to homer in consecutive at-bats (Cory Spangenberg).

A wild pitch and a Chris Ohmstede RBI single cut the Keydet lead to 6-3, but Tarsovich homered with two outs in the fourth. His sixth long ball of the year made it a 7-3 contest.

A walk to Jordan Simpson plated a run in the fifth, but the Keydets added on again in the sixth. Tarsovich walked with two out, and advanced to second following a strange play. On a pickoff attempt, pitcher Quarles lost the return throw from first base in the sun. The ball got away and Tarsovich scampered to second, where he would score on a two-strike double by Tyler Tharp to make it 8-4. Winn followed with VMI’s final home run of the day, putting the Keydets out in front, 10-4.

Furman came right back in the bottom half with four runs of its own. An RBI single by Jake Jones and a three-run home run by Ohmstede cut the Keydet lead back to two, 10-8.

Stallings singled with one out in the seventh, and Collin Fleischer followed with a 2-2 RBI triple to right-center off Furman relief ace Elliott Warford to make it 11-8, Keydets. Ray Lopez pinch-ran and scored on a wild pitch to cap the VMI scoring.

Furman rallied again in the bottom of the inning, when homers by Brandon Elmy and Blake Chisolm, both coming off Kyle Staats, highlighted a three-run uprising in the seventh. Edens relieved with runners on the corners and two outs, and VMI clinging to a two-run lead, 12-10.

Grote scored as Jones was caught in a rundown and tagged out, ending the inning with the Keydet lead cut to one. That was as close as the home team would get, however, as the Keydet closer finished out the game for his third save of the week.

Jared Silva (2-1) picked up the victory in a predetermined short outing, as he started and went three innings in the marathon game. He gave up three runs (two earned) in three innings of work, while Gaddis (2-3) took the loss by giving up five runs in 2 2/3 innings.

VMI baseball will return to action Tuesday, as the Keydets play host to the Radford Highlanders at Gray-Minor Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.