LEXINGTON, Va.- For the second straight day, VMI loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't come up with a hit when they needed it, falling to Birmingham-Southern 6-5 in the second game of a Big South Conference series Saturday afternoon at Patchin Field.

After back-to-back solo home runs by Elliott Erbe and Robert Crumpler drew VMI (13-16, 3-5 Big South) to within one run, a walk, a single and an error left the bases full of Keydets with John Baber coming to the plate in a familiar situation. This marked the third straight game Baber had come to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with VMI trailing, however, for the first time in those three opportunites, Baber could not reach base, as Bailey Pratt nailed down the save for the Panthers (18-9, 7-1 Big South).

"Today was an exciting baseball game," said VMI head coach Marlin Ikenberry. "I'm real proud of how we competed today and our intensity in the dugout. We gave them a couple of runs in the seventh, but we came back and had a chance to win it in the ninth. This team is not afraid to play one run games, but unfortunately, we were one hit away for the second straight day."

Earning the win for the Panthers was David Horne, who pitched eight-plus innings, allowing 10 hits and five runs on exactly 100 pitches. Horne struck out five batters while walking none to improve his record to 4-2 on the season. After Will Stroup entered to retire one batter, Pratt came on and faced five batters, allowing a hit and a walk, before recording his second save of the season.

VMI junior J.J. Hollenbeck took the loss, falling to 1-3 after allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits. He also struck out five batters while issuing two walks in 6.2 innings of work. Trey Barham recorded one out and allowed an unearned run, a hit and a walk, while Jeff DeMara came on to work the final two innings of one-hit ball for VMI.

"Our pitching staff has been doing a good job of eliminating the big inning lately," said Ikenberry. "We only gave up multiple runs in the seventh, but that really came back to hurt us."

On the offensive side, the Keydets were led by Erbe, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, while freshman Shane Geisslinger also went 3-for-4 with a run scored, as well as several outstanding defensive plays and a key base hit in the ninth.

"I was impressed with Shane today, he put together some great at bats," said Ikenberry. "Elliott did a great job for us too, getting that first home run to start off the ninth really gave the team some energy."

Pacing the Panther attack were Adam Tucker, Jonathan Sanford and Casey Bond, each of whom went 2-for-4. Tucker scored twice and had a pair of RBI and launched a towering shot to right-center field in the sixth inning, his league-leading ninth home run of the season.

The game started out well for the Keydets, as Hollenbeck faced only one batter over the minimum in the first three innings while being given a 2-0 lead. In the first inning, a two-out double by Kelly Sweppenhiser was followed by an RBI single to center field by Erbe, giving the home team a 1-0 lead in the first inning for the second straight contest.

In the third inning, VMI would manufacture a run after a leadoff single by Geisslinger. The Keydet second baseman then stole second and went to third base on a bunt single by Matt Smith. Jacoby Fields stepped to the plate next and grounded into a double play that would score Geisslinger and put the Keydets up 2-0.

The Panthers began their comeback in the fourth, as they managed to put up single runs in the next three innings. In the fourth, a single to left field by Blake Burton scored Jonathan Sanford, and in the fifth a single through the right side of the infield by Casey Bond would score Matt Barber following his one-out triple. Tucker's home run in the sixth inning put the Panthers up for the first time by a 3-2 margin.

After the Keydets were retired in order for the second straight inning in the sixth, Birmingham-Southern added to their lead in the seventh, with some help from VMI. Following back-to-back hits by Bond and Scott Billak, a passed ball allowed Bond to score and advanced Billak to third base. Later in the same at bat, Billak stole home as the ball got away from the catcher, giving the Panthers a 5-2 lead after six and a half innings.

VMI responded in the seventh, as Erbe doubled down the left field line to start the inning. A flyout by Crumpler advanced Erbe to third base, then a groundout by Thane Smith to the second baseman scored Erbe and cut the Panther lead to 5-3.

BSC went back to work in the eighth, adding a valuable insurance run after Tucker reached on an error by the shortstop to lead off the inning. Tucker then went to second on a passed ball and scored an unearned run on a double to right field by Mac Godwin.

In the bottom of the eighth, VMI would threaten but came up empty-handed after Sweppenhiser, one of the leading RBI men in the Big South Conference, was struck out by Horne to end the inning with runners on first and second base.

After retiring BSC in the top of the ninth, the Keydets greeted Horne with a pair of solo shots on the first two pitches of the bottom of the ninth. Erbe led off the inning with his third home run of the season, then Crumpler crushed the first pitch he saw down the right-field line for his fourth of the year, cutting the margin to 6-5. Those two shots prompted a pitching change from Birmingham-Southern head coach Brian Shoop, who brought in Stroup to face Thane Smith. Stroup got Smith to ground out to the third baseman on a 1-0 count, then left the game in favor of Pratt. B.T. Good flied out to right field on a 1-2 count, taking VMI down to their final out.

Freshman Klint Reed came on to pinch-hit and ran the count full before walking. Two pitches later, Geisslinger singled just over the outstretched glove of the BSC shortstop Barber. Matt Smith then stepped to the plate with runners at first and second base and also ran the count full before sending a ground ball to the shortstop, who could not decide where to throw the ball after fielding it cleanly, allowing Smith to beat his eventual throw to first. With the bases loaded, trailing by only a run, Baber stepped up for his first at bat of the afternoon, having entered the game an inning previously as a pinch-runner for Fields, who continues to nurse a strained hamstring. After running the count to 1-2, Baber swung and missed to end the rally and the game, giving the Keydets their fourth loss in a row, matching their longest such streak of the season.

The Keydets out-hit the Panthers by an 11-10 margin while leaving six runners on base against BSC's seven. The Keydets committed two errors in the contest, however, turned three double plays, tied for the most in a game this season. Birmingham-Southern made one error and turned one double play on the game.

The Keydets and Panthers wrap up the weekend series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Patchin Field.

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