UNCG Baseball Prevails in Series Opener Against VMI

The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team won a series opener 7-2 over the Virginia Military Institute Keydets in The Southern Conference (SoCon) action on Friday night at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

The win marks the Spartans' fourth straight victory, matching a season-high winning streak accomplished twice this season (Feb. 16-20 & March 23-29).

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Keydets opened the scoring in the top of the first with Justin Starke singling up the middle to drive in Owen Prince. Ty Swaim then followed suit, hitting a knock up the middle that scored Starke. After one inning, the Spartans trailed the Keydets 2-0.

UNCG evened it up at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning. Caleb Cozart opened the scoring by launching his 19^th home run of the season out to left-center. Then with two outs, Zachary Walsh singled to right to tie it up with Trey Truitt crossing the plate.

The third inning saw the Spartans take their first lead when Cozart one-hopped a double off the wall in right to score Aidan Brewer. Mitchell Smith then singled to right to bring Jake Ogden in before Jacob Dilley scored Cozart on an RBI groundout, which made it 5-2 UNCG.

The Spartans scored one more run in the fourth to take a 6-2 lead thanks to a defensive error by VMI.

Luke Jenkins capped the scoring at 7-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning by hitting a sacrifice fly out to left that scored Dilley from third.

NOTES:

• Hunter Shuey earned the win by pitching seven innings of two-run baseball with four hits, two walks and seven strikeouts.
• Noah Chapman pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings out of the bullpen.
• Cozart hit his 19^th home run and paced UNCG with two RBI.
• Brewer and Cozart led the Spartans with a pair of hits.
• Seven different Spartans hitters recorded at least one hit.

PITCHING RECORDS:
Hunter Shuey: W, 5-0
Marcus Van Alstine: L, 1-4

RECORDS:
UNCG: 24-16, 8-5 SoCon
VMI: 24-21, 6-7 SoCon

PURCHASE UNCG GEAR
UNCGgear.com is your one-stop shop for all of your official UNCG merchandise! From apparel to accessories, there is something for everyone!

UP NEXT
The Spartans and Keydets will resume their three-game weekend series with game two on Saturday with a 2 p.m. first pitch at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.