VMI Baseball opens postseason play against Mercer - Virginia Military Institute (2024)

Brian McWalters | RoadWin Photos

Baseball 5/21/2024 4:00:00 PM Nathanial Barbee, VMI Athletic Communications

LEXINGTON, Va. –After earning the fifth-most wins in program history, VMI Baseball (27-28, 7-14 SoCon) looks onward to the Southern Conference Championship at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Keydets' first-round matchup includes a rematch against Mercer (26-27, 6-14 SoCon) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the double-elimination portion of the bracket to face East Tennessee State on Thursday and fight for a league title and automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Game Schedule & Probables
First Round | Wednesday at 7p.m.
- RHP Will Riley (5-5, 6.10 ERA) vs. LHP Colton Cosper (6-3, 4.05 ERA)

Last Time Out
- VMI walked off Western Carolina to end the 2024 regular season on a high note with a 9-8 victory
- Ty Swaim played hero on Senior Day, hitting the walk-off home run
- Justin Starke broke the all-time hits record against WCU on Friday with a long home run in the fifth inning

Keys to the Keydets
- VMI had three players land on the Coach's All-Southern Conference: Justin Starke (First-Team, Catcher), Trey Morgan (Second-Team, Outfielder), and Will Riley (Second-Team, Starting Pitcher)
- Starke and Morgan were also voted to the SCSMA All-Conference Teams
- This is the first time VMI plays as a sixth seed in SoCon Tournament history and the third time in program history, the last being the 2010 Big South Tournament
- Going into the final week of play, VMI leads the nation in stolen bases (172) and defending their 2023 stolen base title
- Keydets also rank in the top 50 in walks (284), hit by pitches (92), on-base percentage (.409), sacrifice bunts (41), sacrifice flies (32), stolen bases per game (3.13), and BB/9 (3.76)
- Kazuya Jordan ranks in the top 25 in stolen bases (28) and stolen bases per game (0.61) while Swaim stands 26th in stolen bases (27)
- Morgan enters the week ranked eighth in sacrifice flies (8) in NCAA
- Starke is number one in four career categories and is just four home runs and four RBI away from breaking two more VMI records
- Grayson Fitzwater is two homers and two RBI away from breaking the VMI single-season record in both categories
- Morgan has reached base in 41 straight games while Starke is riding an 18-game on-base streak
- Riley ranks in the top five in the SoCon in innings pitched and strikeouts against conference opponents
- Morgan has been hot against league teams, posting a .359 average with 28 hits, 22 runs, six doubles, and five homers
- VMI is 17-0 when scoring 10 or more runs

Scouting the Bears
- VMI's first-round opponent, Mercer, enters the tournament 26-27 overall and is the seventh seed after going 6-14 in conference play
- Bears have not won a SoCon series this season, most recently falling to Citadel in the final two games of the series
- Mercer's key to winning is defense as the Bears rank 15th in fielding percentage (.980) and only have 16 errors against SoCon teams
- Bears are 6-20 when scoring five runs or less and are 4-22 when allowing six or more earned runs
- Colton Cosper has been dynamite on the bump, boasting a sub-4.00 ERA with 52 innings pitched against conference opponents along with six wins
- Cosper is top 20 nationally in games started (14) and BB/9 (1.56)
- Parker Lester leads the Bears at the plate with a .310 batting average while producing 61 hits, 51 runs, and 32 walks
- Brandon Prince is riding an 11-game hitting streak and a 24-game on-base streak
- Jackson Cherry has produced 15 multi-hit games and 18 multi-RBI games while Ty Dalley has 16 and 17, respectively
- Ty Dalley leads the SoCon in hit by pitches (6)
- Expect to see Jaxon O'Neal on the mound as he leads the conference in pitching appearances (28)
- Bryant Olson has earned eight saves, the 25th most in the NCAA

Series History
- Mercer leads the all-time series, 12-24-1
- Keydets won the season series for their lone conference road series win
- VMI lost game one, 10-2, before taking game two, 11-8, and game three, 11-5, for the first series win over Mercer since 2021 and second-ever in Macon, Georgia
- Tied for youngest conference rivalry between current SoCon opponents in VMI Baseball history
- Last postseason meeting was in 2018 in the SoCon Championship opening round