VMI KEYDETS
BIG SOUTH Conference |
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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 .410, 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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