Donnie Sharp tossed a complete-game seven hitter, striking out 11, while Caleb Moore drove in three runs to lead the Buccaneer baseball team past VMI, 8-3, in Southern Conference baseball action at Cardinal Park on Friday night.
VMI (8-22, 0-12 SoCon) did all of its scoring in the first inning, getting four of its hits in the initial frame.
Ben Rand led off the game with a single and with one out Andy Barden singled to right, advancing Rand to third. Barden stole second before Sharp struck out Elliott Erbe for the second out. Jason Annis then hit a ball that got under third baseman Michael Giroud’s glove for an error. Rand and Barden both scored on the play for a 2-0 Keydet lead. Chris Brooks then followed with a double to left that plated Annis for a 3-0 VMI advantage after the first half of an inning.
The Bucs (12-20, 5-8 SoCon) did not wait long to answer, unleashing a barrage of extra-base hits in the bottom of the second when the Buccaneers scored six times to put the game away early.
Brandon Cross led off with his first home run of the season to start things off. Kirk Keithley followed with a double, but VMI starter, Jeremy Harper, got the next two hitters before the Bucs put together five straight hits, the first four for extra bases, to score five more times. Justin Clear doubled, followed by a triple from Tim Turner that scored a run each. Matt Traylor and Moore then had back-to-back doubles before Davis Burklin finished things off with an RBI single.
That would be all that ETSU would need on this night, as Sharp allowed just three more hits after the first inning to keep VMI at bay. He allowed just one walk on his way to his third win of the season, and his 11 Ks were the most by an ETSU hurler this season.
Moore drove in his second run of the night on an RBI single in the sixth and his final in the eighth on a sac fly.
Moore and Turner each had three hits to lead ETSU, with Turner scoring three runs as well.
Zach Kennedy was the only VMI player with two hits.
Harper took the loss for VMI, giving up six runs and nine hits in five innings of work.
—
The Buccaneer baseball team kept its hot streak going in Southern Conference play as Reid Casey hurled the Bucs’ second straight complete game and Jeremy Terry had four hits and drove in four runs in ETSU’s 17-1 win over VMI on Saturday.
It was the fifth straight SoCon win for the Bucs and improves their record to 13-20 overall, 6-8 in the SoCon. VMI dropped to 8-23 and 0-13 in a game that was halted after seven innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
The Buccaneers got all the runs it would need in the first inning, scoring four unearned runs. With one out Caleb Moore reached on an error by the Keydet shortstop and then stole second. Davis Burklin legged out an infield single and moved to second when the VMI second baseman threw the ball over the first baseman’s head, with Moore scoring on the play. Brandon Cross then walked and with two outs, Terry tripled to right to make it 3-0. Chad Boruff then followed with a run-scoring single for a 4-0 Buccaneer lead.
Casey had no problems making that lead stand up, allowing just one VMI run in the second on a leadoff double by Matt Cage and an RBI single off the bat of Chris Brooks. In his seven-inning stint, Casey struck out seven and allowed just one walk and seven hits to pick up his fifth win of the year.
ETSU extended its lead with four more runs in the second, with Matt Traylor doubling home the first run and Terry adding a two-run double later in the inning to drive in the final two runs of the frame.
Chad Boruff had an RBI double in a three-run fourth for ETSU, with Justin Clear driving in the other two runs of the inning with a single.
ETSU blew the game open with six more runs in the bottom of the sixth, with the big blow a bases loaded triple by Cross.
Terry finished the day going 4-for-5, including a double and triple, driving in four runs. Cross was a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored, while Traylor and Clear each drove in a pair of runs with two hits each.
Zach Kennedy led VMI, going 3-for-3 with a double.
Duke Acors started and took the loss for the Keydets, getting hit hard in his four innings of work, allowing 11 hits and 11 runs, seven earned.
Notes: Results from Sunday’s game between the Bucs and VMI were unavailable at presstime.

Author