SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford College baseball team opened a weekend series against VMI with a 19-4 win on Friday night at Russell C. King Field. The Terriers scored eight runs in the first inning and scored at least one run in six of the next seven innings on the way to the victory.
 
Wofford is 22-14 on the season and 5-2 in the Southern Conference. VMI is 8-26 overall and 4-6 in the league. Hudson Byorick had three hits to lead Wofford, while Matty Brown had four RBIs. John Dempsey and Colin Davis each had three RBIs and home runs in the game. Noah Cook led the Keydets with a three-run homer in the second inning.
 
In the first inning, the Keydets were retired in order and Andrew Orzel led off for Wofford with a hit by pitch. Brett Rodriguez followed with a double and a walk to Lawson Hill loaded the bases. A single by Hudson Byorick plated a run and a walk by John Dempsey scored Rodriguez for a 2-0 lead. Colin Davis had a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 advantage and a double by Ethan Cornelius pushed the score to 4-0. A single to centerfield by Matty Brown drove in two runs as Wofford had a 6-0 lead with one out and the Keydets made a pitching change. Mike Brown walked and a double steal had runners in scoring position. Fielder's choice RBIs by Andrew Orzel and Brett Rodriguez made it an 8-0 game.
 
With two runners on base after walks and one out, Noah Cook hit a home run to cut the lead to 8-3 in the top of the second inning. In the bottom of the second with one out, John Dempsey singled and Colin Davis and Ethan Cornelius were hit by pitch to load the bases. A fielder's choice by Matty Brown scored a run and a double by Mike Brown added two runs for an 11-3 advantage.
 
The Keydets left one on base in the top of the third. With two outs in the bottom half, Hudson Byorick singled and then John Dempsey hit his fifth home run of the season to give Wofford a 13-3 lead. VMI was retired in order in the top of the fourth inning. The Terriers began the bottom of the fourth with a walk by Ethan Cornelius and Matty Brown begin hit by a pitch. They advanced on a fly ball and Cornelius scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Orzel to make it 14-3.
 
In the fifth inning with two outs, the Keydets had back-to-back singles before a fly ball ended the top half of the frame. Wofford began the bottom of the fifth with a walk by Hudson Byorick and Colin Davis walked with one out. With two outs, a single by Matty Brown scored Byorick and Brown moved to second on a throw as Wofford took a 15-3 lead.
 
VMI had two singles in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, a fielding error allowed a run to score and then a hit by pitch loaded the bases. A ground out ended the top half with the Keydets trailing 15-4. Wofford was retired in order to end the sixth inning and VMI went in order in the top of the seventh inning. Hudson Byorick singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh and John Dempsey reached on a fielder's choice. Colin Davis then cleared the fence just inside the left field foul pole to give Wofford a 17-4 lead. It was his fourth home run of the season.
 
In the top of the eighth, the Keydets led off with a triple but were unable to score the runner. Brennen Dorighi had a double to begin the bottom of the eighth inning, which was his first career hit. Alec Cargin walked and with one out a single by Nolen Hester drove in Dorighi for an 18-4 advantage. A bases loaded walk by Matt Pagano pushed the lead to 19-4 before a double play ended the inning. With one out in the top of the ninth, the Keydets had a walk and hit by pitch. Two fly balls ended the game. 
 
Wofford starter Austin Higginbotham (7-2) went six innings with four runs allowed on six hits. He struck out seven batters and walked two. Matt Ellmyer earned his second save of the season by going three innings with one hit allowed and one strikeout.
 
Jacob Menders (2-3) started for the Keydets and allowed seven runs on four hits in a third of an inning. Nathan Light worked 3.2 innings with seven runs allowed on four hits, along with three strikeouts. Jacob Luchansky threw three innings and allowed three runs on four hits while striking out three. Ryan Huffman went the final inning with two runs allowed on two hits.
 
The Terriers and VMI will continue the series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. due to impending weather on Sunday.