VMI baseball splits season-opening doubleheader

Tyler Tharp hit a first inning grand slam and the VMI Keydets never trailed en route to a 9-3 win over the UMBC Retrievers in NCAA baseball action Friday at Couch Ballpark in Winston-Salem, N.C. The game was a seven-inning contest to complete the doubleheader between the two teams, after UMBC took game one 5-4.

After a dramatic loss in game one, the Keydets put their first three runners on in game two. Tharp then launched the first pitch from Matt Chanin over the right-center field fence for a grand slam, the first of his collegiate career. It was the second straight at-bat in which Tharp had homered, which doubled the number of career long balls he had entering the day, and it was VMI’s first grand slam since current Volunteer Assistant Coach Thomas Stallings hit one versus Wofford last season.

From there, VMI added on with three in the fourth to blow the game open. Single runs in the fifth and sixth capped the Keydet scoring, which UMBC notched a run in the second and two in the final frame.

Jared Silva picked up the win in his first start back since arm problems late in 2015. He went 4 2/3 inning and allowed one run on four hits, striking out one and walking three. Chanin took the loss for UMBC, as he was tagged for seven runs on seven hits and four walks in four frames of work.

After the Keydets took a 4-0 lead in the first, UMBC added a run in the second to make it 4-1, but VMI put the game out of reach in the fourth. Garrett St. Laurent led off with a single and Will Malbon bunted him to second. One batter later, Jacob Jaye walked and David Geary tripled home two runs to make it 6-1. Collin Fleischer then followed with a RBI single to make it a 7-1 contest.

A Peyton Maddox RBI double in the fifth made it 8-1, and a Geary triple – Fleischer groundout combo pushed the margin to 9-1 in the sixth. Geary’s triple made him the first Keydet since A.J. Yoder in 2007 to have two triples in the same game.

UMBC got a two-run home run from Tim Kelly in the ninth to account for the final margin.

Offensively, the Keydets were paced by Geary, Tharp and Fleischer, who all had two hits apiece. Kelly went 2 for 3 for UMBC.

VMI baseball will return to action Saturday, when the Keydets continue action at the Wake Forest Tournament. The Keydets will take on Georgetown at noon.