LEXINGTON, Va.? VMI's return to the diamond after a nine-day layoff was spoiled by a determined Virginia Tech squad, as the Hokies used four pitchers to combine on a three-hit shutout of the Keydets at Gray-Minor Stadium on their way to a 9-0 win. The win for VT improves their record to 21-26, while VMI falls to 31-15 and 22-4 at home.
The Hokies took control of the game in the fourth inning, scoring five runs on four hits, three walks, two wild pitches and a passed ball. Bryan Thomas brought home a pair of runs with his base knock to left field, while a pair of wild pitches hurled by Chris Duty and the passed ball plated the rest of the inning's runs. Solo home runs from Warren Schaefer and Luke Padgett in the seventh inning brought the advantage to 8-0, while an unearned tally in the eighth inning capped the game's scoring.
VMI starter Chris Henderson took the loss for the Keydets, falling to 5-3 on the season with his first loss against an in-state opponent in five starts. Henderson was charged with three runs, all earned in 3.1 innings, allowing seven hits. He was followed by Duty, who allowed four of the five batters he faced to reach base, including three via consecutive walks, while being charged with his team-leading fourth and fifth wild pitches of the year. Corey Bachman came on to relieve Duty and allowed only one hit and no runs through 2.1 innings, while Ian Casher, Trey Barham and Kevin Crum came on to finish out the final three innings on the hill for VMI.
Rob Whitley (2-0) earned the win for VT, allowing only two hits in six innings, striking out six while walking only a pair. Whitley faced only two over the minimum through his six innings of work, while Andrew Wells, Scott Stoehr and Rhett Ballard each worked an inning in relief to lock up the shutout. The blanking marked only the second time that VMI had been shutout this season and the first time to do so at home since May 8, 2006, when Coastal Carolina turned the trick.
Michael Roberts collected his 12th double of the season in the seventh inning while Thane Smith hit his second three-bagger of the year in the fourth. Jacoby Fields accounted for VMI's only other hit, as the team left five men on base and saw three men retired on the basepaths, two on twin killings turned by the Hokie middle infield.
The visitors jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but left a pair of runners on after Jose Cueto's RBI single to plate leadoff man Sean O'Brien. The Hokies then stranded another in the second before seeing the lone baserunner of the third inning erased on a double play. After VMI stranded Thane Smith after his two-out triple, the Hokies got down to business in the fourth, sending nine men to the plate while VMI used three pitchers in the inning. Three consecutive singles to begin the inning chased Henderson in favor of Duty, who got the first out on a fielder's choice. Following a walk, Duty uncorked a wild pitch to score one run, saw a passed ball score another, before walking O'Brien. After another wild pitch brought home a run, Duty walked another and gave up Thomas' two-run single, as he was lifted in favor of Bachman.
Bachman kept the Hokie bats silent, pitching through the fifth and sixth innings, until Ian Casher was brought in to begin the seventh. After allowing two home runs to the first three batters he faced, he was lifted for Barham, who finished out the seventh, thanks in large part to a double play turned by Chad Rice to end the inning. A pair of singles and an error in the eighth preceeded a double play in the eighth that plated the final run of the night, while the Hokies left the bases loaded in the ninth, bringing the Hokie count to ten stranded on the night.
The Keydets return to action this weekend, traveling to Radford for a Big South Conference series at Dedmon Center Park. The Hokies also hit the road this weekend, taking on Duke in Durham in an ACC clash.
