PING!BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT TEAM VMI KEYDETS BIG SOUTH Conference

In recent decades winning baseball and the Virginia Military Institute haven’t quite gone hand in hand. Just six years ago VMI suffered through one of the worst seasons in all of college baseball, finishing at 10-41, with a 3-36 record over the last 39 games of the season (which did interestingly enough include an astounding 28-0 victory over Coppin State). In fact, before 2006 the Keydets hadn’t had a winning season since 1965. Furthermore, from 1970-1981, VMI baseball wasn’t able to muster more than six wins and in 1991, the Keydets ended their season at an abysmal 2-35-1 (with one of the victories coming over a DII school).

However hardball apathy in Lexington appears to be a thing of the past. Not only are the Keydets winning, they’re compiling victories over ranked opponents. A switch in fortune this drastic hasn’t been seen in years – not since the Duke brothers switched the status of Billy Ray Valentine and Louis Winthorpe III in “Trading Places” has there been such a reversal of prosperity. Last season VMI bested both the #3 Virginia Cavaliers and #10 Auburn Tigers, as well as took two of three from perennial SEC stalwart Florida. Additionally the Keydets broke the school record for wins (34-21) for the third-consecutive season, earned their first ever national ranking and posted the lowest team ERA in 33 seasons.

The foundation for VMI’s resurgence was laid by former Keydet, and current Auburn head coach Tom Slater. Slater took over the program in 2001 and immediately began to overhaul the program. By aggressively recruiting the fertile Virginia area for prospects, Slater was able to build a roster that could compete at a high level. Slater coached VMI's first Freshman All-American and Dick Howser Award Watch Listee, Kelly Sweppenhiser and had three players selected in the 2003 MLB amateur draft. Slater also spearheaded the campaign to renovate VMI’s field and clubhouse facility which would ultimately lead to the construction of Gray-Minor stadium. Yet one of his biggest contributions may have been the hiring of another former Keydet Marlin Ikenberry as an assistant coach. When Slater left VMI to take the top assistant job at Florida in 2004, he left the program in the capable hands of Ikenberry whom he had known and been close friends with since their days playing together in Lexington.

Ikenberry has continued where his mentor Slater left off, and in each of his four season as the helm, he has increased the team’s win total by at least three games every year. Like Slater, he has been able to recruit and develop tremendous local talent and is responsible for signing a number of Freshman All-Americans and All-Conference players.

Instrumental in assisting Ikenberry has been pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Ryan Mau. Mau, who came to VMI in 2005 after coaching at Marist College and Charleston Southern, was an accomplished pitcher at the College of Charleston and played professionally before becoming a coach. He determined work with the Keydet pitching staff is a major reason VMI's team ERA has fell to a level it hasn't been in decades.

Also assisting Ikenberry in rebuilding the program has been the newly opened Gray-Minor stadium. The top of the line facility can accommodate 1,400 spectators and features fan friendly concessions and restrooms, state of the art lighting, a press box with the latest technology, new dugouts and an "all weather" batting cage. The Keydets responded well to their new home, going 23-7 during Gray-Minor’s inaugural season. However if VMI continues to topple top teams like Virginia and if Patriot League champion Lafayette loses the opening 2008 series at Gray-Minor, finding opponents willing to come to Lexington and take on the Keydets may be difficult.

VMI’s veteran pitching staff is Ikenberry’s biggest asset going into the new season; the staff is nearly intact from last season, with every pitcher who started a game in ’07 back on campus in 2008. The staff has a pair of aces in junior righty Michael Bowman and senior southpaw Trey Barham. Bowman, who named to the Brooks Wallace Watch List, established school records with 110 strikeouts and 99.0 innings pitched last season. He led the Keydets with a 2.73 ERA, and .235 opposing batting average, and finished the season at 6-3. He was named Second Team All-Big South and earned an All Ping! Team honorable mention. Barham, VMI’s career leader in wins also established a new team season record for victories last season after he went 9-5 with a 3.09 ERA. In 2006 Barham tallied 98 strikeouts and 94.1 innings and led the Big South a .222 opponents’ batting average. Junior Chris Henderson excelled both as a starter and in relief last year, earning a 6-3 record and effective 3.70 ERA in 20 appearances (12 starts). Chris Duty struck out a batter an inning (60 Ks, 59.2 IP) as a freshman and will looking to build upon his promising debut year in which he went 5-3. Travis Smink was only able to appear in a pair of games last year due to injury, but should be ready to regain his 2006 form when he went 7-4 with a 4.40 ERA. The closer role will once again be in the capable hands of Wallace Award candidate Kevin Crum whose 14 saves not only ranked fifth nationally, but doubled the Keydet single-season save record. In 34 innings pitched, Crum struck out 32 batters while issuing only five walks.

Offensively the Keydet lineup will need someone to step up, as the two biggest bats from last season, Robert Crumpler (.330, 14, 52) and Eddie Van Es (.320, 7, 42) are gone. The absence of Crumpler was known as he graduated, but the loss of Van Es was a surprise as he was dismissed from VMI in September. Junior shortstop A.J. Yoder batted .296 with 19 extra base hits and only 13 strikeouts last season. He also managed to get hit by 21 pitches to raise his on base percentage to .530, good for second on the team. Senior outfielder Thane Smith hit .289 with a pair of homeruns and added nine stolen bases to contribute VMI runs. In limited action local product Brian Sandridge showed great potential as he hit .293 (27 for 92) with three homeruns, six doubles and a triple. He’s also armed with a cannon arm in the outfield. However he had more strikeouts (28) than hits and needs to fix the hole in his swing if he is going to be the bat Ikenberry needs to step out and plate runs. The only other returner with significant at bats is catcher Michael Roberts who hit a respectable .277 with three homeruns and 13 doubles and two triples. Centerfielder Justin Hess (.256) batted appeared in 39 games, starting 24 and is also expected to be a vital part of the offense in 2008. Other Keydets who could breakout with big seasons are Tanner Biagini who had a big fall, Shane Geissleinger who will be in the lineup as long as he can stay healthy, and incoming freshman, Sam Roberts, Graham Sullivan and Ryan Barefoot who could take advantage of outfield vacancies to contribute immediately.

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