LEXINGTON, Va. - UNCG baseball conceded game one of this weekend's series against VMI by a final of 6-5 on Friday. The Spartans fought back from an early deficit to even things up in the ninth inning, but a walk-off single from the hosting Keydets sealed a victory for the home team. First baseman Josh Madole finished the night with three hits, while Zack Budzik tallied his second consecutive two-RBI performance. 

While both sides collected knocks in the first three innings, it wasn't until the fourth that the Spartans would open up the scoring, with left fielder Greg Hardison coming across on a Zack Budzik sac fly. Hardison led off the frame with a double, his fifth of the year, before advancing to third during a Pres Cavenaugh at bat. Budzik drove in Hardison for this 13th RBI of the year with his fly ball to the VMI left fielder, giving the Spartans a 1-0 edge. 

The home team made a stout response to the Spartans' tally however, hanging five of their own in the home half of the fourth. The Keydets mounted a two-out rally in the frame, collecting five of their six hits and all of their runs after the second out had already been registered. 

Forced to play from behind most of the night, the Spartans slowly chipped away at their opponent's advantage, scoring a pair in the sixth and another in the seventh. 

Corey Rosier extended his hitting streak to nine straight games during the sixth inning, leading off the frame with a double to center, crossing home plate on Hardison's second knock of the day, a single to right. Hogan Windish made it three straight hits for UNCG with his single, with he and Hardison both advancing on a wild pitch. Budzik provided another productive out with his fielder's choice RBI and the Spartans found their way back within two.

Another leadoff double in the seventh set up another run for the Spartans, this one coming off the bat of starting catcher Robbie O'Neal. Josh Madole's second hit of the afternoon provided a means for O'Neal to come home, cutting VMI's lead to 5-4 before the start of the eighth. 

Coming on in relief, lefty Price King provided another quality outing on Friday. Tossing a Spartan career-high 5.2 innings against Samford last weekend and shutting out Duke through 2.2 IP on Tuesday, King came on in the fourth and proceeded to shutout the Keydets through the eighth. The southpaw tied a UNCG career-high with four strikeouts, without walking a single VMI batter during his time on the bump

With King handling business on the mound, the Spartans managed to tie things up in the visiting half of the ninth on a two-out rally of their own. Madole found his third hit of the day with a double down the right field line, getting into scoring position on the Spartans' fourth two-bagger of the contest. He would come home in the next at bat with Rosier's second hit going down as an RBI single to center. 

After allowing the leadoff man to get on to start the bottom half of the inning, King was pulled, to end his night after 4.1 innings pitched. Despite a solid performance from the Brunswick CC transfer, King was forced to take the losing decision as the Keydets loaded the bases on another single and a walk, before delivering the walk-off knock to reach the final score of 6-5.

>>> Madole's three-hit performance gives him six in his last three appearances, going 6-for-13 (.462) during that span. Hitting leadoff for a second straight game, Madole and the first five Spartan batters in the starting lineup accounted for nine of their team's 10 hits. Madole, Rosier and Hardison batted one through three in the lineup, tallying seven knocks combined
>>> The Spartans' four doubles trail only the five they had against NC State earlier in the year for a season-high. Madole, Hardison, Rosier and O'Neal all had a double. Madole's was the only two-bagger that didn't come in the leadoff at bat of an inning
>>> Price King has been credited with two earned runs against in his last three appearances out of the pen (12.2 IP), giving the lefty an ERA of 1.42 over that span

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