Southern Virginia opened up an 8-1 lead Friday afternoon and then held off a late Mary Baldwin rally to take a 9-6 victory over the Fighting Squirrels in conference play.

Trailing 2-0 early, Mary Baldwin got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning when Michael Robertson doubled and scored on a double by Tucker Hensley to trim the SVU lead to 2-1.

The Knights added three runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth to lead 8-1, but then Mary Baldwin started chipping aay at the deficit.

After scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the sixth, Mary Baldwin added another run in the seventh. Robertson singled, stole second and took third on a ground ball. Hensley scored Robertson with a sacrifice fly, pulling the Squirrels to within 8-3.

Mary Baldwin loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning on a single by Dylan Rankin, a double by Colby Cheatham and a walk to Jared Mayhew. One run scored on a double play ball before Michael Barber and Robertson produced run-scoring singles, closing the gap to 8-6.

Southern Virginia added an insurance run in the top of the ninth and then retired the side in orider in the bottom of the ninth to close out the 9-6 victory.

The two teams will conclude the series Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader at Moxie Stadium.