The 2026 VMI Keydets baseball team represents Virginia Military Institute during the 2026 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Keydets play their home games at Gray–Minor Stadium as a member of the Southern Conference. They are be led by fourth-year head coach Sam Roberts.

Previous season

The 2025 season saw the Keydets finish the season with a 27–26 record, marking their first winning season since 2014. In the 2025 Southern Conference baseball tournament, VMI lost in the preliminary round against Western Carolina. VMI's Bradley Garner lead the SoCon with the highest batting average of .389.

Preseason Coaches poll The coaches poll was released on February 5, 2026. VMI was selected to finish seventh in the conference.

SoCon coaches poll 1 Samford 45 (4) 2 Mercer 44 (3) 3 ETSU 38 (1) 4 The Citadel 30 5 Western Carolina 24 6 UNCG 16 7 VMI 14 8 Wofford 13

Awards and honors Preseason SoCon awards and honors Preseason All-SoCon Team Player No. Position Class Designation Grayson Fitzwater 20 1B Senior First Team Bradley Garner 23 OF Junior First Team Owen Prince 2 OF Senior Second Team

Personnel

Starters LineupPos. No.Player. Year C 19 Cole Raile Junior 1B 20 Grayson Fitzwater Senior 2B 43 Kazuya Jordan Senior 3B 1 Ayden Schnarrs Sophomore SS 3 Seth Buchanan Junior LF 24 Cole Cook Sophomore CF 2 Owen Prince Senior RF 23 Bradley Garner Junior DH 9 Gabe Jenkins Freshman

Weekend pitching rotation Day No.Player. Year Friday 33 Clark Driscoll Senior Saturday 28 Roberto Velasquez Graduate Sunday 29 Peyton Dhein Sophomore

Roster

Schedule 2026 VMI Keydets baseball game log (27–23) Regular season: 27–23 (Home: 21–6; Away: 6–17; Neutral: 0–0) February: 9–2 (Home: 9–1; Away: 0–1; Neutral: 0–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall SoCon February 13 ESPN+ * Gray–Minor StadiumLexington, VA W 10–07 Dhein (1–0) Lane (0–1) None 225 1–0 — February 13 ESPN+ Delaware State* Gray–Minor Stadium W 24–47 Sipe (1–0) Valle-Zay (0–1) None 225 2–0 — February 14 ESPN+ Delaware State* Gray–Minor Stadium W 24–47 Jones (1–0) Carter (0–1) Baker (1) 162 3–0 — February 14 ESPN+ Delaware State* Gray–Minor Stadium W 9–4 Monroe (1–0) Vidmar (0–1) None 162 4–0 — February 17 ACCNX at No. 24 Virginia* Davenport FieldCharlottesville, VA L 2–5 Jaxel (1–0) Driscoll (0–1) Kapa (1) 3,202 4–1 — February 20 ESPN+ * Gray–Minor Stadium W 13–37 Dhein (2–0) Stepner (0–1) Taylor (1) 124 5–1 — February 21 ESPN+ Maryland Eastern Shore* Gray–Minor Stadium W 7–3 Monroe (2–0) Torres (0–1) None 155 6–1 — February 22 ESPN+ Maryland Eastern Shore* Gray–Minor Stadium W 14–47 Baker (1–0) Champey (0–1) None 153 7–1 — February 27 ESPN+ * Gray–Minor Stadium W 8–2 Taylor (1–0) Welsch (0–1) None 105 8–1 — February 28 ESPN+ Stonehill* Gray–Minor Stadium W 3–0 Driscoll (1–1) Douglas (0–3) Sipe (1) 209 9–1 — February 28 ESPN+ Stonehill* Gray–Minor Stadium L 5–168 Basgaard (1–0) Tyndall (0–1) None 209 9–2 — March: 13–4 (Home: 8–1; Away: 5–3; Neutral: 0–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall SoCon March 1 ESPN+ Stonehill* Gray–Minor Stadium W 7–0 Velasquez (1–0) Curley (0–1) None 139 10–2 — March 3 at * Straw Family StadiumEmmitsburg, MD Canceled (inclement weather) March 6 ESPN+ * Gray–Minor Stadium W 8–77 Baker (2–0) Dubois (0–2) None 119 11–2 — March 6 ESPN+ Western Illinois* Gray–Minor Stadium W 10–77 Bassett (1–0) Humphrey (0–2) None 119 12–2 — March 7 ESPN+ Western Illinois* Gray–Minor Stadium W 16–6 Tyndall (1–1) Steinhoff (0–1) None 174 13–2 — March 8 ESPN+ Western Illinois* Gray–Minor Stadium W 9–8 Baker (3–0) Humphrey (0–3) None 122 14–2 — March 11 ESPN+ at * Marty L. Miller FieldNorfolk, VA W 15–10 Sipe (2–0) Snoh (0–1) None 332 15–2 — March 14 ESPN+ * Gray–Minor Stadium L 4–7 Mayfield (1–3) Dhein (2–1) Foster (2) 256 15–3 — March 14 ESPN+ Cornell* Gray–Minor Stadium W 8–0 Driscoll (2–1) Holcombe (0–3) None 256 16–3 — March 15 ESPN+ Cornell* Gray–Minor Stadium W 7–4 Baker (4–0) Foster (0–1) None 301 17–3 — March 20 ESPN+ at * Carter Memorial StadiumRadford, VA L 4–9 Ladd (1–0) Dhein (2–2) None 152 17–4 — March 21 ESPN+ Radford* Gray–Minor Stadium W 11–6 Driscoll (3–1) Costello (0–3) None 350 18–4 — March 22 ESPN+ at Radford* Carter Memorial Stadium W 9–1 Sipe (3–0) Nace (0–2) None 208 19–4 — March 25 ESPN+ at * Barcroft ParkArlington, VA W 8–5 Sipe (4–0) Marks (0–2) Baker (2) 67 20–4 — March 27 ESPN+ at ETSU Thomas StadiumJohnson City, TN L 5–6 Oliff (2–0) Sipe (4–1) Costarelli (3) 251 20–5 0–1 March 28 ESPN+ at ETSU Thomas Stadium L 3–4 Harpster (4–1) Velasquez (1–1) Scott (1) 634 20–6 0–2 March 29 ESPN+ at ETSU Thomas Stadium W 5–4 Baker (5–0) Scott (2–1) None 933 21–6 1–2 March 31 ESPN+ at * Plumeri ParkWilliamsburg, VA W 10–3 Monroe (3–0) Weight (1–1) None 691 22–6 — April: 5–11 (Home: 4–6; Away: 1–5; Neutral: 0–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall SoCon April 2 ESPN+ Gray–Minor Stadium L 5–167 Condon (3–1) Velasquez (1–2) None 153 22–7 1–3 April 3 ESPN+ Wofford Gray–Minor Stadium L 2–9 Bouchard (5–2) Spiegel (0–1) None 161 22–8 1–4 April 4 ESPN+ Wofford Gray–Minor Stadium W 13–1210 Velasquez (2–2) Fitzpatrick (1–3) None 209 23–8 2–4 April 7 ESPN+ George Washington* Gray–Minor Stadium W 10–7 Tyndall (2–1) Murphy (0–2) None 97 24–8 — April 10 ESPN+ at Joe Lee Griffin StadiumBirmingham, AL L 4–10 Whitney (2–0) Spiegel (0–2) None 379 24–9 2–5 April 11 ESPN+ at Samford Joe Lee Griffin Stadium L 3–8 Blasche (2–5) Velasquez (2–3) None 391 24–10 2–6 April 12 ESPN+ at Samford Joe Lee Griffin Stadium L 3–5 Berry (3–1) Dhein (2–3) Tommasini (1) 123 24–11 2–7 April 14 ESPN+ at Norfolk State* Marty L. Miller Field W 8–4 Monroe (4–0) Whitfield (0–2) Sipe (2) 173 25–11 — April 17 ESPN+ Western Carolina Gray–Minor Stadium W 10–8 Spiegel (1–2) Burnette (2–5) None 222 26–11 3–7 April 18 ESPN+ Western Carolina Gray–Minor Stadium L 5–187 Snyder (5–0) Tyndall (2–2) None 195 26–12 3–8 April 19 ESPN+ Western Carolina Gray–Minor Stadium L 3–410 Fordham (4–2) Sipe (4–2) Fuller (2) 187 26–13 3–9 April 21 ESPN+ at * Bolding StadiumFarmville, VA L 4–10 Castrichini (2–2) Tyndall (2–3) None 183 26–14 — April 24 ESPN+ at * George S. Erath FieldHigh Point, NC L 5–7 Walton (5–2) Spiegel (1–3) Story (7) 248 26–15 — April 25 ESPN+ at High Point* George S. Erath Field L 6–12 Brachbill (9–1) Jones (1–1) Story (8) 250 26–16 — April 26 ESPN+ at High Point* George S. Erath Field L 2–5 Paul (4–1) Baker (5–1) None 275 26–17 — April 28 ESPN+ Longwood* Gray–Minor Stadium W 3–0 Sipe (5–2) Nash (2–2) Bassett (1) 600 27–17 — May: 1–6 (Home: 1–0; Away: 0–6; Neutral: 0–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall SoCon May 1 ESPN+ at UNCG Baseball StadiumGreensboro, NC L 6–7 Chapman (3–6) Sipe (5–3) Horton (2) 350 27–18 3–10 May 2 ESPN+ at UNCG UNCG Baseball Stadium L 6–9 Dear (1–2) Baker (5–2) Horton (3) 450 27–19 3–11 May 3 ESPN+ at UNCG UNCG Baseball Stadium L 4–7 Shuey (2–5) Driscoll (3–2) Horton (4) 381 27–20 3–12 May 8 ESPN+ at Claude Smith FieldMacon, GA L 2–13(7) Lambert (5–0) Spiegel (1–4) None 875 27–21 3–13 May 9 ESPN+ at Mercer Claude Smith Field L 2–5 Hugas (9–2) Driscoll (3–3) None 545 27–22 3–14 May 10 ESPN+ at Mercer Claude Smith Field L 1–11(8) Ackerman (3–2) Jones (1–2) None 419 27–23 3–15 May 12 ESPN+ Norfolk State* Gray–Minor Stadium W 15–5 Dhein (3–3) Harrison (0–2) None 125 28–23 — May 14 ESPN+ The Citadel Gray–Minor Stadium May 15 ESPN+ The Citadel Gray–Minor Stadium May 16 ESPN+ The Citadel Gray–Minor Stadium Postseason: 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0; Neutral: 0–0) : 0–0 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–0; Neutral: 0–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall SCT Record May 20–23 vs. TBD Flour FieldGreenville, SC Legend:      = Win      = Loss      = CanceledBold = VMI team memberRankings are based on the team's current ranking in the D1Baseball poll.

Schedule Notes

Rankings

References