LEXINGTON, Va. - VMI could not overcome a four-run first inning deficit, as the team's 10-game win streak came to an end with an 8-5 loss to Bryant Monday in non-conference baseball action.

The Bulldogs (1-6) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, coming on four hits and two errors against Keydet starter Jason Farley (0-1).  The Keydets (10-1) cut the lead to just two runs on two occasions in the late innings, but were no match for BU starter Joe Michaud (1-1) and Mark Andrews, who collected his first save of the season.

"I'm glad that we played Bryant where we did in the schedule," said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry.  "They're a well-coached team that played hard.  That's a club that would do very well in the Big South, especially with the effort they showed tonight.  They exploited our mistakes, especially the two errors we made in the first inning.  We just couldn't come up with that big rally to get right back into it."

Making the first start of his career, Michaud allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits through 5.1 innings.  Andrews went the rest of the way for the visitors, surrendering just one run on three hits in 3.2 innings.  The two combined for seven strikeouts while not walking a batter, as Andrews retired the final eight batters of the night in order to shut things down.

Farley, meanwhile, was charged with six runs, though just two of them earned, in his 4.1 innings.  Jeremy Brown came on and allowed a single run in 2.1 innings, while Chris Duty recorded three outs while also allowing a run.  John Garrett closed things out for VMI, facing the minimum in his 1.1 innings, as the freshman has allowed just one hit in 5.1 innings across three appearances this season.

Dylan Stone beat out an infield hit to start the game for Bryant that was followed two batters later by a double from Jeff Vigurs.  Another infield single, this time from Kevin Brown, put the visitors on the board, before an infield error brought the score to 2-0.  A groundout from Jamie Skagerlind pushed the lead to 3-0, while another infield error plated the inning's second unearned run and made the score 4-0 before Farley recorded his second strikeout to end the lengthy inning.

The Keydets scrapped together a run in the bottom of the inning, when Graham Sullivan plated Sam Roberts with a right-field single.  The Bulldogs got it back in the second, however, when Nick Campbell doubled to center field, stole third base and then scampered home on an errant throw to third, bringing the margin back to four runs.

VMI mounted a rally in the third inning, as Roberts reached on a single up the middle before an error put Cory Spangenberg on base.  With runners at the corners, Tanner Biagini delivered a fly ball to center field that was caught, and Campbell fired home a strike to nail Roberts at the plate for the double play.  Sullivan then delivered an RBI double to plate Spangenberg, but was left stranded in a 5-2 contest.

The teams matched runs in the fifth, before VMI cut the lead to 6-4 in the sixth.  That came after Jacob Morley's one-out triple, as Justin Topping dropped down a safety squeeze bunt that he ended up beating out for a hit.  Alex Haitsuka's single through the left-side of the infield spelled the end of the night for Michaud, as Andrews entered to face pinch-hitter Erickson Keeton.  The left-hander won the battle, inducing an inning-ending double play.

Again, the team's traded single runs in the seventh, as Ryan Granat hit a sacrifice fly for the Bulldogs before Jordan Ballard answered with his third home run of the season.  The Bulldogs capped the scoring in the eighth, as Campbell led off with a left-field single before Vigurs walked.  Duty retired the next two Bulldogs, but allowed Skagerlind an RBI single, providing the final margin of 8-5.

Stone, Campbell, Brown and Tim Norton each had a pair of hits for Bryant, while Campbell and Brown also scored a pair of runs.  The Keydets got two hits each from Roberts, Spangenberg and Sullivan, as Roberts also stole two bases, Spangenberg scored two runs and Sullivan drove in two runs for VMI in a losing effort.

The Keydets open a four-game series against La Salle Thursday, with first pitch at Gray-Minor Stadium set for 5 p.m.

Keydet Quick Hits

• Entering Monday's play, VMI was one of 10 teams nationally that had played a game this season without suffering a loss.
• The Keydets' 10-game win streak was the program's longest in at least 60 years and ranked among the five longest current streaks in the nation entering Monday.
• Senior Tanner Biagini extended his hitting streak to 13 games, dating back to last season, with his seventh-inning double.
• Monday's outing was the first time VMI has been held under six runs this season.
• Each team scored four earned runs Monday, as the difference in the game came in unearned runs (4-1).