In a successful 2024 campaign, VMI baseball went 27-29 during the regular season and earned the No. 6 seed in the Southern Conference Championship.—Photo courtesy VMI Athletics.
With the season at its end, it is time to look back at VMI baseball’s success during the 2024 campaign.
VMI went 27-29 during the regular season and earned the No. 6 seed in the Southern Conference Championship. There were five Keydets named Preseason All-SoCon, with Justin Starke ’23 earning Preseason Player of the Year. During the season, VMI had one SoCon Player of the Month and one SoCon Pitcher of the Week. Ty Swaim ’24 was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List as a candidate for the Shortstop of the Year Award. In the postseason, three VMI players earned All-SoCon honors.
The Keydets returned to their speedy ways, defending their stolen base title with 178 stolen bases and over three bags per game. VMI broke the single-season record for walks (287) en route to earning 27 wins, the fifth most in program history. The Keydets would break even more records, recording the most walks in a game against Richmond.
Sam Roberts ’11, head coach, made VMI history, becoming the fastest coach to reach 50 career wins. During his run to 50, Roberts led a multitude of VMI greats, including Starke, who broke one single-season record and six career records, along with Trey Morgan ’24, who is dubbed No. 1 in games played, breaking Roberts’ former record. Will Riley ’24 came into the career records picture, ranking No. 1 in strikeouts per nine innings and top 10 in career strikeouts.
Grayson Fitzwater ’26 and Starke each broke single-season records for VMI. Fitzwater broke the record for most home runs and RBIs in a season, while Starke snapped the runs scored record, a feat he also accomplished last season. Morgan set a new record for the Keydets as the senior got on base in 42 consecutive games.
Notable games that grabbed the attention of VMI fans include a pair of walk-off victories over archrival The Citadel and Western Carolina. The Keydets also drew success at home against Power Six school Georgetown and kept pace with the reigning national champion, LSU, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In a tight series against a talented SoCon rival, the Keydets earned the first series win over Wofford since 2017 and the first series win at home over the Terriers since 2003.
