VMI returns to action Friday at 3 p.m., continuing a four-game set against La Salle at Gray-Minor Stadium.  The series caps VMI's opening stretch of the season, during which the Keydets had 14 of 15 games at home, as next week starts a six-game road stretch over Spring Furlough. 

The Keydets saw the nation's fourth-longest winning streak snapped on Monday, falling 8-5 to a scrappy Bryant squad at Gray-Minor.  This weekend brings in a La Salle club that opened its season against one of the nation's top offenses in N.C. State, before dropping two of three in close fashion at ODU last weekend.

VMI, meanwhile, has started to garner regional attention for its start to the season, being listed among the Top 25 “Mid-Major” teams in the Southeast.  The website www.SEBaseball.com compiles a weekly ranking of the top programs in the Southeast not affiliated with the SEC, ACC or Conference USA.  In those rankings, VMI was listed 18th this week, marking the first time this season the team has been so recognized (linked above.)

Redshirt junior Chris Duty gets VMI's first start of the weekend, as the right-hander has made four relief appearances on the year, going 1-0.  He will oppose La Salle lefty Sean Kennedy, a junior who enters at 0-2.  Game two of the series will feature a pair of sophomore righties in VMI's Adam Lopez (2-0) and La Salle's Cody Weiss (1-1).  The Keydets will close the weekend with right-handers Coby Cowgill (2-0) and Sam Roberts (2-0), while the Explorer's rotation has not yet been announced for the final two games.

Sunday's contest marks the first game of the season that will be carried on the VMI Sports Network.  The game can be heard on www.VMIKeydets.com, as will each of next week's game on the road at The Citadel and High Point.  The games against The Citadel can also be heard on Lexington's WREL 1450 AM, while fans can also watch those games on the Bulldog Insider (www.CitadelSports.com), while the High Points games can be viewed on the Big South Network (www.BigSouthSports.com).