Matt Winn hit a tie-breaking solo home run in the eighth inning and Taylor Edens worked out of a jam in the ninth as the #4 VMI Keydets defeated the #5 UNCG Spartans at the 2015 SoCon Baseball Championships Thursday afternoon in Charleston, S.C. It was VMI’s first postseason win since 2010 and advanced the Keydets to play #1 Mercer Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the tournament’s winners’ bracket.
The Keydets (21-28) never trailed in Thursday’s game, but a scrappy UNCG (23-26) battled back from an early 3-0 deficit and tied the game, 4-4, on Tyler Long’s home run in the sixth. Ray Lopez and Ryne Sigmon traded RBI singles to make it a 5-5 game before Winn led off the eighth by hooking a 2-0 pitch just inside the foul pole for the decisive blow. It was his 14th home run of the year, moving him into a tie for third on the school’s all-time single season listing.
Even after Winn’s homer, the game was very much in doubt. UNCG put two on with two out in the ninth, but Taylor Edens struck out Eric Kalbfleisch to end the game and pick up his 12th save of the year.
Jack Gomersall (3-1) was the winning pitcher in relief, as he threw just four pitches to induce a double play to end the eighth inning. UNCG relief ace Tyler Frazier (3-1) took the loss after giving up the home run to Winn, only the second long ball surrendered by Frazier this season.
The Keydets jumped out in front early against UNCG ace Ryan Clark. Jordan Tarsovich had an infield single with one out and David Geary followed with a single of his own. Winn then walked and Collin Fleischer followed with a RBI single to right, scoring Tarsovich and Geary. Long’s throw back to the infield got away and wound up rolling all the way to the backstop, allowing Winn to score and Fleischer to advance all the way to third as the Keydets went up, 3-0.
UNCG answered with two runs in the third, when Tripp Shelton had a one-out single and Zac MacAneney followed with a wind-aided double. Hunter King followed with a ground ball in the hole between first and second that Thomas Stallings flagged down, but threw wildly to first to allow two runs to score and cut the VMI lead to 3-2.
Winn plated a run on a double play grounder in the bottom of the inning, but UNCG scored again in the fourth. Jake Kusz led off with a walk and was forced out, but Sigmon moved the new runner, Long, up with an infield out and Shelton plated him with a RBI single to make it 4-3.
Clark, meanwhile, settled in and had double digit strikeouts through five. His teammates tied it for him in the sixth on Long’s home run, but the Keydets got to Clark in the seventh.
Stallings was hit by a pitch with one out and Brandon Angus followed with a ground rule double to extend his hitting streak to 12 straight games. Ray Lopez, who had struck out three consecutive times, then drilled a 1-0 pitch back through the box for a RBI single and a 5-4 Keydet lead.
The Spartans tied it once again in the eighth, when, after Kusz grounded out to start the inning, Jonathan Hadra went to the mound with a left-hander ready to face the left-handed hitting Long. Starter Andrew Woods stayed in, however, on the warm, humid day and induced a fly ball to left field that Lopez lost in the high sky. It went for a triple and Sigmon drove Long in with a single on the very next pitch for a 5-5 tie. That set the stage for Winn’s home run and Edens’ dramatic save that gave the Keydets their first win in the main draw of a conference tournament since 2003.
Offensively, Tarsovich and Geary had two hits apiece to lead the Keydets, while Long went 2 for 4 with three runs scored for UNCG.
Neither starter figured in the decision, as Woods allowed five runs – four earned – in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two. Clark went 6 1/3 frames and also allowed five runs – four earned. He piled up 12 strikeouts with a fastball that reached as high as 96 miles per hour.
VMI baseball returns to action Friday afternoon, when the Keydets take on top-seeded Mercer. That game is currently scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. first pitch.
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