The baseball team took on Southern Conference team Virginia Military Institute over the weekend in Lexington, Virginia.
The series was set for Friday to Sunday, but an unexpected power outage during game one delayed the game for the following day.
Before the power outage, the Bucs had the lead at 3-1 in the top of the seventh. Junior Jake Lyle (Spring Hill, Tennessee) and freshman Ethan Shelton (Lebanon, Tennessee) got the hits for the Bucs in the early innings.
Each recorded two hits while junior Noah Hill (Ringgold, Georgia) drove in two runs in the sixth inning to put the Bucs on top. Senior Micah Kaczor (Washington, D.C) played on the mound for the entire game, only allowing one hit. He struck out four players and finished with no walks on 85 pitches.
Hill hit the last ball of the inning before the lights went out. The game would resume on Saturday, with VMI picking up more runs in the final innings. The Bucs attempted a comeback with a Shelton home run, which drove in two players, but ultimately fell in game one with a score 7-6.
The second game of the series saw the Bucs rally a seven-run inning in the second. Sophomore David Beam (Knoxville, Tennessee) singled at the top of the second and drove in two runs for the Bucs. Lyle stepped up to bat and hit one to center field, sending Beam home for another run, while junior Jackson Greer (Knoxville, Tennessee) homered and sent in two more runs to home.
Greer singled and drove another run in the top of the forth. Beam homered in the fifth and drove in two more runs for the Bucs. Beam then added a double in the sixth and added more runs. Freshman Markel Graham (Atlanta, Georgia) then singled and sent Beam home for the final run for the Bucs in the game, ending with a big 14-3 win in game two.
“The pitching and hitting has been sharp this season,” said junior Cullen Smith (Lebanon, Tennessee). “Our goal is as always to win a championship.”
In game three, the Bucs couldn’t come together to secure a series win. With no runs and a struggling defense, the team fell 6-0.
The Bucs return home on Wednesday for the White Out game against rankedVirginia Tech.
