Keydets Take Series Opener From Buccaneers, 14-3

Freshman Tom Burkett had a fourth-inning solo home run on Friday, his fourth in the last five CSU games.

LEXINGTON, Va. – Charleston Southern tallied three solo home runs on Friday, but those were the only runs put on the board by the Buccaneers in a 14-3 loss to Virginia Military Institute. The Keydets recorded 14 hits and took advantage of five CSU errors to reach double figures in scoring for just the seventh time this season. Freshman Tom Burkett hit one of the Bucs’ homers, his fourth in the last five games.

Making his 12th start of the season for CSU (18-32, 6-13 Big South), junior Andrew White had his shortest outing of the year when taking the mound to begin the game. He fell to 4-6 on the year, allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in the loss. Junior Michael Bowman earned the win for VMI (27-24, 12-7), improving to 4-5 on the season by allowing one run over six innings.

After tallying one run in each of the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead, the Keydets’ brought seven more across home plate in the third and fourth to extend their lead to 9-0. Sophomore Tanner Biagini started the rally in the bottom of the third, drawing a two-out walk to keep the inning alive. He advanced to second on a single through the left side by sophomore Jordan Ballard before redshirt-sophomore Brian Sandridge made it a five-run game with his seventh home run of the season.

Burkett put the Bucs on the board in the top of the fourth inning, hitting his seventh home run of the season to make it a 5-1 game.

Without getting a hit, VMI loaded the bases with one out on a pair of walks and a hit batter in the bottom half of the inning. Ballard made it 6-1 when his fly out went deep enough to left field to bring freshman Sam Roberts home from third on the sacrifice. A groundball to third base should have ended the threat, but a fielding error allowed junior Mike Roberts to score and extended the inning. Freshman Justin Topping took advantage of the opportunity, delivering a double to right center that brought Sandridge and Biagini around to score and gave the home team a 9-1 advantage.

Another Buccaneer error in the bottom of the sixth allowed VMI to reach double digits with a pair of unearned runs. A strikeout and a ground ball to first made it two down before a throwing error allowed sophomore Justin Hess to reach first. Junior A.J. Yoder made CSU pay for its mistake with a double down the left field line that brought Hess around to score. A single by senior Shane Geisslinger then drove Yoder home, putting the Keydets in front 11-0.

The bats stayed hot for VMI in the bottom half of the seventh when Topping doubled to right center, bringing Ballard and Mike Roberts around to score to make it a 13-0 game. Freshman Ryan Barefoot added to the Keydets’ second-highest scoring game of the season by drawing a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth for the home team’s 14th run.

Redshirt-junior Michael Obuchowski stepped in as a pinch hitter in the top of the eighth inning for CSU and delivered his first home run of the season, clearing the wall in right field to cut into VMI’s lead. After Barefoot’s walk gave VMI a 14-2 advantage, junior Kory Morian made it 14-3 in the top of the ninth with a home run to left, his fourth of the season, but that was as close as the Bucs could get.

The three-game series will continue at 6 p.m. on Saturday.