Lexington, Va. -- VMI sophomore Elliott Erbe (Portsmouth, Va. / Western Branch) nailed a pitch from Davidson's Matt Dellinger over the right field wall for a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to help lift the Keydets to a dramatic 9-7 win on Sunday at Patchin Field.

Davidson (3-6, 0-5 SoCon) wasted little time scoring as Jay Heafner smacked a two-run single, bringing Chris Emond and Justin Hartanov home and giving the Wildcats the early lead, 2-0.

Davidson added to the lead in the second inning when Sam Navarro doubled to right-center field, scoring D.J. Dailey and Eli Benefield. Emond followed Navarro with a homer to left center, extending the advantage to 6-0. The Wildcats scored again in the top of the fifth inning on a solo homerun from Taylor Shoop, making it a 7-0 game.

The Keydet (5-7, 3-0 SoCon) bats finally came to life in the bottom of the fifth when freshman Brandon Massenburg (Prince George, Va. / Prince George) hit a two-run homer to left field, scoring sophomore Matt Smith (Chesapeake, Va. / Great Bridge). VMI added two more runs in the inning when freshman Kelly Sweppenhiser (Herndon, Pa. / Line Mountain) doubled to left-center field, bringing senior Jason Annis (Placentia, Calif. / Valencia) and freshman Allan Wimmer (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) in to score to make it a 7-4 game.

Dellinger came in to pitch the sixth for Davidson and loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batsman before Erbe hammered his grand slam, giving the Keydets an 8-7 lead.

VMI added to its lead in the seventh on an infield single from junior Zach Kennedy (Richmond, Va. / Douglas Freeman), scoring Massenburg for a 9-7 advantage.

On the mound, senior Jeremy Harper (Seneca Rocks, W.Va. / Pendleton County) (1-1) pitched six innings in relief, allowing only one run on three hits while striking out three batters, to pick up the win. Sophomore Jeff DeMara (Chesapeake, Va. / Great Bridge) pitched the ninth inning to earn his second save of the season. Dellinger (1-2) was given the loss for Davidson.

"We showed a lot of character today," said VMI head coach Tom Slater. "We kept playing hard after falling behind 7-0, but we just had great at-bats all game. Brandon Massenburg hit a big homerun, and Elliott Erbe's homer was obviously huge. Jeremy Harper did a great job for us in relief, and Jeff DeMara closed the door when we handed the ball to him in the ninth. It's a great win for the program. They never hung their head and just kept chipping away."

VMI will next play at Elon on Tuesday. The opening pitch is set for 2:30 p.m.