VMI earned multiple recognitions in the Southern Conference, including four All-SoCon honorees, two preseason All-SoCon players, and two conference weekly award winners.—Photos courtesy VMI Athletics.
There are plenty of positive takeaways from the 2025 VMI baseball campaign, including historical moments, record-breaking at-bats, and many exciting endings.
VMI baseball started the season going 7-0 and improving to 11-1 for the best start since 2010. For the third straight season, Sam Roberts ’11, head coach, piloted his squad to 25 or more wins, marking the first time the Keydets have achieved 25-plus wins in 3 straight years since 2006–08. With a 27-26 record, the Keydets earned a winning season for the first time since 2014, with 27 victories being the fifth-most in franchise history. Roberts earned his 80th win against Wofford and sits fifth all-time in wins.
The Keydets’ offense was on a tear throughout the season, scoring double digits in 24 games with nine run-rule victories. VMI closed out the year ranked sixth nationally in scoring by averaging nine runs per game while being in the top 25 in total runs among all D-I schools with a program-record 491 runs. The Keydets came up clutch, as well, tallying four walk-offs.
The Runnin’ Roos earned a three-peat title in stolen bases with 209, shattering the program’s previous record, and would go on to lead the Southern Conference in six statistical categories—walks, on-base percentage, sacrifice flies, steals, steals per game, and scoring—and break six program single-season records for on-base percentage, steals, walks, runs, RBIs, and strikeouts per nine innings.
VMI earned multiple recognitions, including four All-SoCon honorees, two preseason All-SoCon players, and two conference weekly award winners. Grayson Fitzwater ’26 was tabbed All-SoCon First Team during the preseason and postseason, while Owen Prince ’26 was named second team on both lists. Boston Torres ’28 tallied postseason second-team honors, while Justin Spiegel ’27 landed on the all-freshman team. During the season, Torres was named player of the week in March, with Caden Plummer ’25 earning pitcher of the week in February. Ryan Peterson ’25, Caden Plummer ’25, and Marcus Van Alstine ’25 each received honors from College Sports Communicators, landing on the Academic All-District Team.
Prince highlighted the Keydets’ success on the base paths, setting a new VMI single-season record of 46 steals, and led the country for the entire season until the final weekend of the regular season. He finished the year ranked No. 2 in stolen bases in NCAA DI. The stolen base king also produced at the dish, leading the team with 82 hits, just the fifth Keydet to eclipse 80 hits.
Earning the batting title was Bradley Garner ’28, who led the team and conference with a .389 batting clip, ranking 30th in the country. Garner also tallied a team-high .672 slugging percentage and 20 doubles.
Torres lived up to the hype as the star-studded 3rd Class cadet broke two VMI single-season records, earning 68 runs and 67 RBIs, both second-most in the league. Torres also matched the VMI on-base streak, reaching base safely in his first 42 games as a Keydet.
Meanwhile, it only took Fitzwater three seasons to break the all-time RBI record. Fitzwater smashed a pair of home runs against William & Mary to hit RBI number 157. The powerhouse lefty finished the year with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs. Fitzwater also set a new on-base streak record, reaching base safely in 43 straight games.
