NORFOLK, Va. – Host VMI hit three home runs, two by Cole Jenkins, to come away with a 9-5 non-conference win over Norfolk State on Tuesday night at Gray-Minor Stadium.

In the final non-conference game of the season, the Spartans (19-25) matched VMI (14-27) with 10 hits each, but could not overcome nine walks and the Keydets' power display. Dionte Brown, Alsander Womack, Mason Velasquez and Jacob Council all had two hits each for NSU.

Velasquez and Council had a hand in NSU taking the early lead. After Minjae Hong walked with two outs in the top of the first, Velasquez doubled to left field. Council singled both runners home.

The Keydets scored three times in the bottom of the first to take a lead they would not relinquish. Callen Nuccio hit an RBI double and both Cole Garrett and Jenkins hit run-scoring singles.

Jenkins then hit a solo homer in the third and a two-run shot in the fourth to increase the VMI lead to 6-2.

The Spartans made things interesting in the seventh. With one out, Brown and Womack hit back-to-back singles, and Minjae Hong reached on a VMI error to load the bases. Brown scored on a wild pitch, and Velasquez and Council tacked on consecutive RBI singles to cut NSU's deficit to 6-5. But the Keydets struck out the final two Spartans of the inning, stranding a pair of runners.

J.T. Inskeep drew a bases-loaded walked in the bottom of the seventh, and Reeves Whitmore hit a two-run homer in the eighth to give the Keydets a cushion.

Council drove in a season-high three runs for NSU. Hong scored a pair of runs.
Tyrin Everette (2-1) took the loss for the Spartans. He started for the first time this year and allowed three runs in one inning of work. The Spartans used five pitchers, with freshman Noah Wiggins working a team-high 3.2 innings with a career-high five strikeouts.

Sam Ewald (1-2) earned the win for VMI with three innings of work, allowing a pair of runs.

NSU plays its final regular-season games at home later this week as the Spartans host Delaware State in a four-game series. The teams, who are the top two in the standings in the MEAC Northern Division, play a single game at 3 p.m. Thursday and a Senior Day doubleheader at noon Friday, all at Marty L. Miller Field. The series finale will be played at 11 a.m. Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton due to graduation ceremonies on the NSU campus.