DURHAM, N.C. – Red-shirt junior outfielder Will Knight went 3-5 with two doubles and four RBI Friday as the VMI baseball team opened the 2022 season with a 10-5 upset of 23^rd-ranked Duke University at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The last time the Keydets defeated a ranked team was February 20, 2018, a 9-4 victory at #15 Virginia.

VMI rapped 15 hits on the day to go with five walks, as Knight, Trey Morgan and Zac Morris each had three base hits.

Morgan, a red-shirt sophomore, led off the game with a home run to right field on the third pitch of the season. Knight drove in a pair in the third inning with a double, a sacrifice fly brought one home in the fourth, and Brett Cook doubled to make it a 5-1 game in the fifth. Knight plated two Keydets with another double in the sixth and after two Duke runs in the bottom half of the sixth, making the score 7-3. Morgan and Morris each had run-scoring singles in the seventh as part of a three-run inning to make it a 10-3 game.

Red-shirt sophomore Tyler Bradt threw six strong innings, allowing just one earned run, six hits and two walks while striking out eight Blue Devils. Freshman left-hander Jaxon Lloyd tossed a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts and Will Lopez worked the last two innings to close out the victory.

Cook had two hits and a walk, while Morgan and Morris also drew walks. Alex Stone went 2-4 with a home run for Duke and Graham Pauley also had two hits.  

The two teams will square off Saturday at 3 p.m. and wrap up the series Sunday at 1 p.m.