LEXINGTON, Va. – The Holy Cross baseball team fell in both ends of a doubleheader against the Virginia Military Institute on Friday, Feb. 24 at Gray-Minor Stadium. 

GAME ONE 
VMI 9, Holy Cross 0 (seven innings)

STATS LEADERS:
Holy Cross (1-5)
Jaszcz (1-for-1)
Toomey (1-for-2)

VMI (3-3)
Swaim (1-for-3, two runs, two stolen bases)
Fitzwater (2-for-2, home run, three RBI)
Starke (2-for-3, double, RBI)
Lopez (W, 3.2 IP, one hit, one walk, five strikeouts)

THE DECISION:
W: Lopez (1-0)
L: DiLauro (0-2)
S: Inskeep (1)

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• Second baseman Ty Swaim drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first for VMI, then made his way to third after a stolen base and groundout. He made it a 1-0 game when he scored on a single from third baseman Justin Starke. 
• Catcher Cole Garrett singled and advanced to second on an error in the second inning; he then scored on an RBI single by Cole Jenkins to give the Keydets a 2-0 lead. First baseman Grayson Fitzwater then hit a two-run homer to extend the lead to 4-0. Another single and stolen base by Swaim put him in scoring position for an RBI single by shortstop Zac Morris to extend the lead to 5-0 by the second. 
• VMI tacked on two more runs in the third to make it a 7-0 game, and another run in the fourth to push the lead to 8-0. 
• The Crusaders put two runners on in the top of the sixth, but VMI ended the scoring threat with a double play. 
• A sac fly extended the VMI lead to 9-0 in the sixth. 

GAME TWO
VMI 12, Holy Cross 3

STATS LEADERS:
Holy Cross 
Cooney (1-for-3, two walks, two RBI)
Brown (double)
Benton (1-for-4, double)

VMI 
Morris (5-for-5, double, two RBI)
Swaim (2-for-5, double)

THE DECISION:
W: Wilkerson (1-0)
L: Chudy (0-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• The Keydets took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first after an error and two-run double. That lead grew to 5-0 by the third inning off of a pair of RBI singles. 
• Holy Cross got its first run of the day in the top of the fourth. Sophomore left fielder Connor Cooney walked to lead off the frame, and later came around to score on an error, making it a 5-1 game. 
• VMI immediately answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to extend the lead to 7-1. 
• Sophomore designated hitter Sean Scanlon hit a one-out single in the top of the fifth, and sophomore shortstop Brendan Jones and senior first baseman Chris Benton drew back-to-back walks. Cooney then hit a two-run single to score Scanlon and Jones and bring the Crusaders within 7-3. 
• VMI's lead grew to 12-3 by the bottom of the eighth. 
• Holy Cross loaded up the bases in the top of the ninth, but was unable to push any runs across. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE: 

• Freshman Oliver Brown had a pinch-hit double in the ninth inning of Game 2 for his first collegiate hit. 

DUE UP: 

• Holy Cross will continue the series with VMI with a single game on Saturday, Feb. 25. 
• First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Gray-Minor Stadium, moved from the original start time of 1 p.m. 

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