LEXINGTON, Va. (Interstat) — Lane Tobin homered twice and drove in four runs to lead the Citadel Bulldogs to a 12-7 victory over the Virginia Military Institute Keydets on Saturday afternoon at Gray–Minor Stadium.

The Bulldogs, who won their third consecutive game in the Southern Conference series, improved to 30-24 overall. VMI fell to 28-26.

Tobin, a shortstop, went 2 for 4 with a solo home run in the first inning and a three-run blast in the sixth. He had been 1 for 5 with one RBI in his previous outing Friday and 2 for 3 on Thursday, both wins for Citadel.

The Bulldogs struck quickly. Tobin led off the game with a home run to left-center field. After an error and a walk, Michael Gibson sacrificed both runners into scoring position, and Christian Stratis drove in an unearned run with a sacrifice fly. Citadel led 2-0 after the top of the first.

VMI starter Andrew Jones settled in, but Citadel added a run in the third. Ayden Liam walked, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball before Stratis doubled to right-center to make it 3-0.

Trip Brown started for the Bulldogs and pitched four innings, allowing three runs on no hits with one strikeout. The Keydets tied the game in the fourth. Grayson Fitzwater led off with a solo home run to center. After a strikeout, Cole Raile doubled and scored on a single by Gabe Jenkins. Seth Buchanan singled, and Cole Cook’s sacrifice fly brought in another run, tying the score 3-3.

Citadel broke the game open in the sixth. Stratis walked, and Zach Hunt doubled. Sam Dansky then doubled to left field, driving in both runners to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. After a sacrifice bunt advanced Dansky to third, he scored on Tobin’s second homer of the day, a three-run shot to right. The Bulldogs led 8-3.

Citadel tacked on four more runs in the seventh, taking advantage of two VMI errors and two passed balls. Dansky scored an unearned run on a single by Aryan Patel, then Patel stole second and Dansky stole home. Patel also stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher.

VMI mounted a late rally in the ninth. Trailing 12-3, the Keydets loaded the bases with three walks. Bradley Garner hit a sacrifice fly to make it 12-4. Raile then homered to left, a three-run shot that brought the score to 12-7. A hit batter and a double put runners on second and third, but the Bulldogs brought in Ben Brash, who induced a flyout and a groundout to end the game.

Liam Foley pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for Citadel, striking out two. Bryce Coulter tossed two scoreless innings with one strikeout. Mason Yokum recorded one out. For VMI, Roberto Velasquez pitched two innings, allowing one hit and no runs.

Sam Dansky had one hit and two RBIs for the Bulldogs. Gabe Jenkins led the Keydets with three hits and one RBI. Grayson Fitzwater also homered. Both teams finished with nine hits. Citadel executed three sacrifice hits, while VMI had two sacrifice flies.

Interstat’s game simulator predicted a final score of Citadel 7, VMI 2. Interstat’s ELO system gave Citadel a 56.30 percent probability to win.