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VMI Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader at Appalachian State, 6-4 and 10-8

BOONE, N.C.? The VMI baseball team received a pair of seven-inning performances by starting pitchers Duke Acors and Phil Hendrix to take two wins from Appalachian, 6-4 and 10-8. Acors and Hendrix each carried leads into the eighth inning before giving way to the bullpen.

Acors allowed one run on four hits in the first game to improve to 5-5 on the year. Hendrix surrendered seven runs on 10 hits to up his record to 6-4 on the campaign.

In Game One, Ben Rand went 2-for-4, with a pair of RBI singles and a run scored to lead VMI. Rand singled home Jason Annis in the second inning to give VMI an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, Appalachian's Derek Smith came around on an error to knot the game, at 1-1.

The visiting Keydets scored one run in four straight innings to take a 4-1 advantage in the fifth. In the third, leadoff man Brandon Massenburg tripled off the left field fence and scored on a groundout to give them a 2-1 lead. Annis opened the fourth with a double and came home on Rand's second hit. Kelly Sweppenhiser reached on an error in the fifth and scored on Andy Barden's squeeze bunt.

VMI added a pair of runs in the sixth to stretch the lead to 6-1. Jon Wade scored on Matt Smith's squeeze bunt. One batter later, Massenburg's single plated Rand to boost the margin to 6-1.

Appalachian mounted a charge in the last of the eighth, scoring three runs off of reliever Jimmy Thoms. Smith's two-run home run to left field cut the deficit to 6-3. Clint Johns doubled and Ben Marsh followed with a double to plate Johns and make the score 6-4. VMI's Jeff DeMara came for the final out of the eighth and retired the side in order in the ninth for his sixth save of the season.

Appalachian starter Joe Norton went the distance in a losing effort. The lefthander allowed four earned runs on 12 hits to fall to 1-7.

In Game Two, both teams started with hot hitting. VMI's first two batters of the game reached base and came around to score. Massenburg came home on a sacrifice fly by Wimmer and two batters later, Elliott Erbe's single through the left side plated Sweppenhiser to make it a 2-0 game.

Appalachian responded with two runs of its own in the bottom half of the first. An RBI double by Clint Johns plated leadoff batter, Justin Thomas. Johns came home on a ground out to tie the game, at 2-2.

The Mountaineers took the early momentum by scoring three runs in the second. An RBI groundout brought home Smith for the first run of the inning. Thomas's two-run single increased the lead to 5-2.

VMI's Sweppenhiser singled to start the third inning and scored on Barden's double to make it a 5-3 contest. Appalachian used a leadoff single of its own by Eric Pittman to begin the bottom half of the frame. Pittman later came home on Travis Hunnicutt's single to push the lead back to three runs, at 6-3.

VMI scored a run in the fourth, when Matt Smith doubled and came around on a groundout to make it 6-4. Erbe's solo blast to right field cut it to 6-5 in the fifth. The visiting team posted four runs in the sixth to take a 9-6 lead. Four straight batters reached base and came around to score for VMI.

After Appalachian manufactured a run in the seventh, VMI answered in the eighth when Wimmer's RBI single scored Sweppenhiser to stretch the lead to 10-7. Pittman registered a solo blast in the ninth to set the final count at 10-8.

Nick Peterson went five innings before giving way to Taylor Craig for the final four. Peterson allowed nine runs on 10 hits. Craig kept Appalachian in the game by holding VMI to one run on two hits.

VMI and Appalachian return for the series finale Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
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