Williamsburg, Va. - VMI (23-29) fell behind the College of William and Mary 9-2 after four innings Wednesday night as the Keydets rallied to climb back to within a 10-8 deficit before eventually falling to The Tribe 13-8 at Plumeri Park.

William and Mary (34-18) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one inning, but VMI right fielder Elliott Erbe's (Portsmouth, Va. / Western Branch) two-run double in the top of the third inning brought the Keydets to within 3-2.

The Tribe answered right back in their half of the third inning as an RBI single from right fielder Jeff Lunardi followed by a sacrifice fly from shortstop Kyle Padgett returned The Tribe's advantage back to three, 5-2.

Six more hits and two more sacrifice flies in the fourth inning gave William and Mary an additional four runs and a commanding 9-2 lead.

The Keydets chipped away at The Tribes advantage, scoring three times in the fifth, two times in the sixth and another in the top of the eighth to bring the score to 10-8.

But three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning secured the 13-8 victory for William and Mary.

Sean Sosonko (3-3) went five innings and struck out six to earn the win for The Tribe, as Keydets' starter Jimmy Thoms (Newport News, Va. / Denbigh) (2-6) suffered the loss.

Overall, Erbe went 2-for-4 with three RBI's in the game. VMI shortstop Matt Smith (Chesapeake, Va. / Great Bridge), first baseman Jonathan Hadra (Richmond, Va. / Atlee) and second baseman Chad Rice (Grindstone, Pa. / Brownsville) also added two hits.

William and Mary third baseman John Lentz went 4-for-5 and first baseman Greg Sexton went 3-for-4. Padgett went 2-for-2 with three RBI's in the contest.

Wednesday's contest was a make-up game that was originally scheduled for April 14th but was rained out.

VMI travels to Lynchburg this weekend to face Big South opponent Liberty University for the final three games of the season. The first game is Friday beginning at 3:00 p.m.

-VMI-