LEXINGTON, Va. - Jacoby Fields' (Prince George, Va./Prince George) fielder's choice grounder plated B.T. Good (Vienna, Va./James Madison) with the winning run to cap a three-run seventh inning and lead the VMI past Coastal Carolina, 4-3, to earn a split of a Big South doubleheader Saturday at Patchin Field.

VMI (19-17, 1-8 BSC) snapped a five-game losing streak and won its first Big South Conference game in the history of the program. VMI began BSC competition this year after a 79-year run in the Southern Conference.

Coastal Carolina won the first game of the doubleheader, 9-7.

"The monkey's definitely off our back," VMI head baseball coach Marlin Ikenberry said. "Our kids compete in every game and I'm proud of the way they pulled it out, down by two in the ninth"

VMI trailed 3-1 heading into its last at-bat of the scheduled seven-inning nightcap. Pinch-hitter Matt Cage (Richmond, Va./Atlee) started the rally with a leadoff single off Coastal Carolina starter Steven Carter. Pinch-runner Thane Smith (Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial), inserted for Cage, scored one batter later when centerfielder Jonathan Mason misplayed Matt Smith's (Chesapeake, Va.) single for a two-base error with Smith advancing to third.Good followed with a RBI triple in the right field corner to tie the score at 3-3, chasing Carter from the game. Coastal Carolina righthanded reliever Byron Binda intentionally walked Elliott Erbe (Portsmouth, Va./Western Branch) and Kelly Sweppenheiser (Herndon, Pa/ Line Mountain) to load the bases. Fields worked the count to 2-2, fouled off four straight pitches, then sent a bouncing ball to the drawn-in shortstop Brett Grandstrand, whose throw failed to stop a charging Good at the plate.

Jeff DeMara (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) pitched two innings of scoreless relief to raise his record to 3-2. DeMara relieved Keydet starter Mike Anton (Clarksville, Md./River Hill) with runners on first and second with none out in the Chanticleers sixth, but retired his first three batters to end the threat. Brett Gordon singled off DeMara to lead off the seventh and was sacrificed to second, but DeMara struck out Ryan McGraw for the second out and Fields robbed Micheal DeJesus of extra bases with an sparkling over-the-shoulder grab of a liner on the left field warning track to retire the side.

CCU (21-11, 4-5) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap off a three-run opposite field blast by Mike Costanzo. VMI cut the lead to 3-1 in the second when Fields scored on Chad Rice's sacrifice fly.

Fields was three for four with a run scored and game-winning RBI for the Keydets in the second game. Anton made his second start of the season in the nightcap and went five innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out six batters.

Costanzo led Coastal to the win in the first game, hurling 5.2 innings of relief to raise his record to 4-2. Costanzo also collected two hits as the Chants' DH.

Chris Raber's sacrifice fly in the fourth inning broke a 4-4 tie in the opening game. CCU extended its lead to 6-4 in the sixth when Jason Krohn singled home Raber, and the lead grew to 9-3 when the Chanticleers scored three more runs.

VMI closed the gap to 9-7 when Erbe stroked his eighth homer of the season, a three-run homer to right in the ninth.

Krohn and Raber each collected two hits and drove in three runs in the opener. The Chants feasted on five VMI pitchers with 13 hits and 11 walks, the most issued by Keydet hurlers in a game this season.

Fields went 2-4 with an RBI in the first game - giving him five hits on the afternoon.

"The monkey's definitely off our back," said VMI head coach Markin Ikenberry."Our kids compete in every game and I'm proud of the way they pulled it out, down by two in the ninth"

"I always tell them to keep it within one swing of the bat. Our guys believed in themselves. They played hard."

VMI steps out of conference play Wednesday when it travels to William & Mary for a 7:00 game. CCU next plays at North Carolina on Tuesday (6:00 p.m.)