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Samford sweeps SoCon doubleheader at VMI

vmi baseball 2021Redshirt freshman Justin Starke had six hits on the day, but that was just about the only nice thing you could say for VMI as the Keydets were swept by Samford Friday, 25-1 and 11-5.

The Bulldogs (26-19/16-7 SoCon) hit eight home runs in the two games, including three from Max Pinto in the nightcap.

Game 1

Samford jumped out early with six runs in the top of the first inning of the opener. The Bulldogs followed with five in the fifth and 12 in the sixth and the game was called after seven due to the conference’s 10-run rule.

Starke went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for VMI (13-26/9-14 SoCon). Will Knight was also 2-for-3.

Brooks Carlson went 3-for-5 for Samford with two runs and seven RBI. Tyler McManus, Davis
Schwartz and Garrett Howe also homered for the Bulldogs. Samuel Strickland worked five innings for the win, allowing just four hits, no walks and one run while striking out eight.

Game 2

Samford started the second game strong as well, plating four runs in the first two frames. VMI made it a 4-2 game in the bottom of the second, one run scoring on a Nathan Loyd sacrifice fly and the second on a Cody Warner double.

The Keydets took a 5-4 lead in the fourth on RBI singles by Knight and Starke and another run came across the plate on an error. The Bulldogs tied it in the fifth and scored two each in the sixth, seventh and eighth to pull away.

Starke was 4-for-5 in the nightcap, while Warner had two hits. Zac Morris walked twice for VMI
Pinto finished 4-for-5 with four runs and three RBI for Samford

The two teams will close out the series Saturday with a single game at 1 p.m.

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