ASHEVILLE, N.C.- UNC Asheville plated ten runs in the first five innings, while VMI stranded 12 men on base in dropping a 10-4 decision in game two of a Big South Conference series at McCormack Field. With the win, UNCA (18-26, 7-10 Big South) moves one game ahead of VMI (25-18, 6-11 Big South) and into a tie for sixth place in the League standings.

Keydet starter Trey Barham (6-4) could manage only two innings, as he surrendered five runs, three earned, on six hits while walking three. Bulldog starter Chris Nigro (4-7) earned the win, allowing only three runs on ten hits, also walking three.

UNCA tallied runs in four of the first five innings off of four VMI pitchers. An RBI single from Kyle Smith gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage in the first, while a pair of errors helped UNCA bat around and score four runs in the second. Rob Vernon brought home the team's second run with his RBI double in the second, and that was followed by a two-run single from Elliott Arrington in the next at bat. Two batters later, Smith made the score 5-0 with his base knock to right field.

The Keydets scored their first runs of the series in the top of the third, as A.J. Yoder hit a full-count, two-run home run over the 35-foot right-field wall, as his first collegiate home run cut the margin to 5-2.

Kevin Booth relieved Barham to begin the third inning, and kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard for the first time, allowing only a leadoff single to Matt Henson in the frame. But after VMI failed to cut further into the lead in the fourth, Booth loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, with Henson coming to the plate. On a 2-1 count, Henson laced a ball to deep left field that cleared the bases, leaving Henson on second base and making the score 8-2 in favor of the hosts. A leadoff home run by Kevin Mattison and an RBI single from John Whited accounted for the ninth and tenth runs of the game for UNCA in the fifth inning.

The Keydets had their opportunities in the late innings, as they left two runners on in the sixth inning and left the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth. Jacoby Fields scored runs in the eighth and ninth innings to make the final tally 10-4.

Leading VMI at the plate on the day was Michael Roberts, who went 4-for-5 while driving in a single run, while Fields went 3-for-5 with a double. For UNCA at the plate Henson and Whited each collected three hits while combining to drive in four.

The Keydets and Bulldogs play game three of the series on Sunday afternoon, as first pitch from McCormack Field is set for 1 p.m.