Terriers overpower VMI early, clinch another conference series
The Wofford-VMI series saw the Terriers leave Lamore Field at Gray-Minor Stadium with a huge road victory that kept them atop the SoCon standings at 5-1. Wofford also matched the tone of the weekend with eight home runs across the three games, and Ben Timblin turned in one of the best individual series performances in the league so far this season.
Game 1: Wofford 16, VMI 5
Wofford set the tone immediately in the opener. Cade Collins drew a walk to start the day, then Niko Brini and Logan Tribble ripped back-to-back doubles to put the Terriers ahead 2-0 before VMI could settle in.
The second inning became the turning point, as Wofford turned a multi-run lead into a rout. Brady Gold doubled home a run, Brini added a sacrifice fly, and Gold later stole home as the Terriers kept applying pressure. Ben Timblin and Marc Quarrie both doubled, Hunter Herndon singled, and the scoreboard quickly moved to 8-0.
The third inning was even more punishing. Gold launched a solo home run, Brini followed with a two-run homer, and then Timblin added the third home run of the inning to make it 12-0. Herndon singled again, then scored on a wild pitch to close out the inning with a 14-0 cushion.
Wofford kept going in the fourth when Brini tripled and Tribble singled him home to stretch the lead to 15-0. From there, the Terriers cruised to the 16-5 win in seven innings.
Timblin finished 2-for-3 with a home run and a double, while VMI’s only notable moments came from a Grayson Fitzwater home run and Owen Prince extending his on-base streak to 29 games.
Game 2: Wofford 9, VMI 2
The second game clinched the road series and followed a much more controlled script. VMI opened with a leadoff triple from Owen Prince, the best leadoff hitter in the Southern Conference, and he came home on a wild pitch to give the Keydets an early 1-0 lead.
Wofford answered in the third. Brady Gold, coming off a three-hit performance in the opener, led off the inning with a solo home run to tie it at 1-1. Later in the frame, Ben Timblin singled in two runs to give the Terriers a 3-1 advantage. Timblin finished the game 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs, continuing a weekend that was as productive as it was loud.
The score held there until the eighth, when Wofford broke the game open. Niko Brini and Logan Tribble opened with back-to-back singles, then Timblin reached on a sacrifice bunt attempt that turned into a fielder’s choice and a throwing error, allowing Brini to score. Marc Quarrie followed with an RBI single, and Hunter Herndon added a sacrifice to make it 6-1.
Wofford kept pouring it on in the ninth. Cade Collins walked, Tribble singled, and Timblin unloaded a three-run homer to make it 9-1. VMI answered with a Grayson Fitzwater home run to trim the final margin to 9-2, but the outcome was settled long before the last out.
Alec Bouchard delivered the kind of start that makes a road series win look routine, working seven innings and striking out nine. Branton Little finished the final two innings to close it out.
Game 3: VMI 13, Wofford 12
Sunday turned into one of the wildest games in the Southern Conference all season. It was the kind of game that moved back and forth so often that no pitchers will be mentioned in this recap, and it ended with a walk-off single in the tenth inning for VMI.
Wofford opened the scoring in the top of the first when Timblin doubled home Logan Tribble for a 1-0 lead. VMI tied it in the bottom half on a throwing error by Cade Collins, and defense became part of the story from there. Wofford finished with five errors, while VMI committed three of its own.
In the second inning, Gold stayed scorching hot and crushed a three-run home run to give the Terriers a 4-1 lead. VMI answered in the third when Seth Buchanan doubled home two runs to make it 4-3. The Keydets then exploded for five runs in the fourth, with Cole Raile delivering the biggest hit, a bases-clearing triple that highlighted a disastrous inning for Wofford defensively.
The Terriers refused to fade. Marc Quarrie hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to 8-6, and in the sixth Timblin delivered the swing of the game, a grand slam that put Wofford back in front 10-8. Timblin was completely locked in all weekend and earned SoCon Baseball Player of the Week honors after homering in all three games and finishing 7-for-12 with two doubles, three home runs, and 12 RBIs.
VMI answered again in the seventh, tying the game at 10-10 on a two-RBI single by Kazuya Jordan. The Keydets then retook the lead in the eighth with back-to-back RBI singles by Buchanan and Cook to make it 12-10.
Wofford still had one more rally left. In the ninth, Hunter Herndon blasted a two-run homer to tie the game at 12-12 and force extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, VMI opened with a double from Bradley Garner, and Buchanan followed with the walk-off single that ended it 13-12.
