ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Keydet designated hitter Brandon Massenburg (Prince George, Va. / Prince George) broke a 5-5 ninth inning tie when he doubled down the left filed line to drive in third baseman Kelly Sweppenhiser (Herndon, Pa. / Line Mountain) to give VMI baseball (20-19, 2-10 BSC) a 7-6 conference win over UNC Asheville (17-19, 7-5 BSC) Sunday afternoon at Greenwood Field.
The Keydets were trailing 6-4 in the eighth inning but posted two runs in the frame to tie the contest on RBI singles from catcher Sean Seawell (Spotsylvania, Va. / Spotsylvania) and shortstop Matt Smith (Chesapeake, Va. / Great Bridge).
The Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead when catcher Nick Jaksa knocked home designated Steve Sherman in the second inning.
Massenburg tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning with a two out solo home run (2).
UNC Asheville pulled ahead again in the bottom half of the fourth when Sherman connected on a two-run homer (11) to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 edge.
The Keydets took a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning after centerfielder B.T. Good's (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) RBI double was followed by right fielder Elliott Erbe's (Portsmouth, Va. / Western Branch) two-run round tripper.
VMI handed the lead right back, though, as the Bulldogs scored a run in the sixth and used two Keydet errors in the seventh inning to plate two more runs and take a 6-4 lead.
Richard Litwin (Virginia Beach, Va. / Ocean Lakes) (2-3) allowed no runs and just a hit in 2.1 innings of relief to earn the win for VMI. Duke Acors (Richmond, Va. / Atlee) was effective in the start for the Keydets, allowing four earned runs in 6.2 innings of work.
Bulldogs reliever Chris Nigro (0-3) offered up Massenburg's game winning hit and took the loss.
Massenburg went 3-for-5 on the day with a double, a homer and two RBI's.
Sherman drove in three runs on four hits for UNCA, with a double and a home run.
The Keydets dropped two of three Big South games at UNCA over the weekend.
For the series, Erbe connected for two home runs and drove in five. Sweppenhiser went 5-for-12 over the three games against the Bulldogs and has now hit in nine out of his last 10 games.
VMI travels to Richmond on Tuesday to face Virginia Commonwealth University. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
-VMI-
