LEXINGTON, VA -- A season-high 1,265 fans filled the seats of Grey-Minor Stadium on a gorgeous evening for baseball in Lexington. The VMI squad did not disappoint, as the Keydets defeated the No. 3 Cavaliers 5-2, snapping a five-game winning streak for Virginia. The Cavaliers represented the highest ranked opponent that the Keydets have beaten in school history.
"Tonight was a very difficult loss against a very good team and a great pitcher," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "We got punched in the nose tonight, and we didn't respond very well."
The story of the night was the performance by VMI's starter, sophomore Chris Henderson. In his fourth start of the season, Henderson allowed just two runs in 7.2 innings to a Virginia offense that scores more than eight runs per game. Henderson found his groove as the game went on, retiring 15 straight batters from the third to the eighth inning.
"That's the one game that we really wanted to win this week," Henderson said. "Fortunately, we got it."
VMI got on the board first against Virginia's starter, freshman Jeff Lorick, scoring once in the first inning. This would be the only run, however, that Lorick would allow, as he gave up just three hits in five innings.
"I felt good in the [bullpen]," Lorick said. "That doesn't always guarantee success out on the mound, but it definitely gave me a little bit of confidence going out there for the first inning."
The Virginia bullpen, however, did not match Lorick's effort, as VMI exploded for a four-run sixth inning. Junior Jake Rule started the inning by giving up a hit to redshirt junior Thane Smith, which was erased by a brilliant play from left fielder Brandon Guyer to throw out Smith at second. Rule, however, continued to struggle, as senior Robert Crumpler hit a double, and took third on a wild pitch to sophomore Eddie Van Es. An error by Rule on a fielder's choice hit by sophomore A.J. Yoder appeared to shake him up even more; Rule hit the next two VMI hitters before being pulled for junior Michael Schwimer, who allowed a single and a sacrifice fly before retiring the side.
"They did a great job of capitalizing on our mistakes in the sixth inning," O'Connor said. "We didn't block a ball in the dirt, we threw the ball to second when we should have thrown it to first and we hit a couple of guys, and that was the ballgame."
The Cavaliers scored again in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-2 and put two runners on in the ninth before VMI closer Corey Bachman closed out the game. Rule took the loss for Virginia.
The defeat comes as a wake-up call to Virginia after its sweep of Virginia Tech last weekend. As the Cavaliers look forward to the second half of their difficult ACC schedule, they will have to be consistent in order to vie for the ACC crown.
"I purposely scheduled this game where I did because we needed to get our players out of their comfort zone," O'Connor said.
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