VMI Baseball will play against Norfolk State on March 11 at Marty L. Miller Field in Norfolk, Virginia.
The game is part of a series of three matchups between the two teams this season. The Keydets, currently holding a 14-2 record and riding a five-game winning streak, will return to Norfolk on April 14 before hosting the Spartans on May 12. Norfolk State enters the contest with a 2-11 record and is coming off seven consecutive losses.
Grayson Fitzwater has been recognized as the Southern Conference Player of the Week and was named to the Baseball America Week 4 National College Team of the Week after going eight-for-11 with two doubles, four home runs, nine RBIs, and six runs. During his recent performance, Fitzwater set the career home run record for VMI and became the first Keydet since 2017 to hit three home runs in a single game.
Sophomore Cole Cook has also emerged as a key player for VMI, batting .533 during a recent series sweep over Western Illinois and leading the team this season with a .400 average, 20 hits, seven doubles, 25 RBIs, and six home runs. Seth Buchanan contributed with a walk-off home run in game two of that series and has recorded hits in each of VMI’s last five wins. Catcher Cole Raile has made an impact both offensively and defensively with three home runs, ten stolen bases without being caught, and six runners thrown out attempting to steal.
Owen Prince continues his strong performance by reaching base safely in all sixteen games so far this season. He leads the nation with seventeen stolen bases and ranks fifth nationally—and first in his league—with twenty-six runs scored. As a team, VMI leads the nation in stolen bases entering week five with ninety-one steals while also ranking among national leaders in walks, doubles per game, on-base percentage, scoring categories, shutouts, and win-loss percentage.
Norfolk State is led by Justin Journette who holds a .356 batting average along with five home runs and fourteen RBIs. On the mound for NSU are Sean Harris-Walter—who has not allowed an earned run over five appearances—and Ethan Blakeney who leads their pitching staff with seventeen strikeouts. Merrill Morgan serves as head coach for Norfolk State after previously working as an area scout supervisor for Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays since 2021.
Historically, VMI holds a dominant edge over Norfolk State with twenty-eight wins out of thirty meetings since 2001. Last year saw VMI sweep all three games against NSU including a decisive twenty-six to six victory in Norfolk.
