VCU unleashed their offense on the Wildcats over the weekend to win another conference series. After a 2-1 series victory against Davidson the Rams continue to hold first place in the A-10.
Both teams played all the hits over the weekend. The two schools combined for 73 hits however Davidson only turned their 28 hits into 9 runs. VCU turned 48 hits into 29 runs.
Series Opener to the Wildcats
In Friday’s series opener Sean Thompson faced off against Wildcats starter, Durin O’linger. O’linger out dueled VCU’s ace by spreading out 7 hits over as many innings and giving up just 1 run. The Wildcat pitcher used 7 strikeouts to eliminate a few scoring opportunities.
Will Robertson gave Davidson a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning with a homerun. The Rams answered with a run in their half of the inning after a pair of doubles from Logan Farrar and Darian Carpenter cut the deficit in half.
Thompson had a rough outing, he was relieved after 4+ innings when Davidson extended their lead to 3-1 and had runners on first and second with no outs. Benjamin Dum came in and allowed one of Thompson’s runners to score but he ultimately cleaned up the mess in the 5th. With the score 4-1, Dum did his part to carry the game through the 7th inning while giving up only 3 base knocks and struck out two hitters.
9th Inning Falls Short for Rams
Davidson added a critical insurance run in the 8th inning that would prove to be the difference in the game. In the bottom of the 9th, VCU kicked their offense in gear with 2 outs. Logan Farrar hit an RBI single to make the game 5-2. Paul Witt got aboard after getting hit by a pitch to load the bases for Carpenter. The senior lined a 2 RBI single to center to cut the lead to 5-4. Steven Carpenter hit into a fielder’s choice to end the game. A 3 run 9th inning wasn’t enough to get the victory on Friday.
Logan Farrar and Darian Carpenter led the Ram offense. The pair produced 5 hits, 4 RBI’s and 2 runs scored, but 11 team strikeouts and just 1 walk kept the Black and Gold offense at bay despite a 12 hit performance.
In Games 2 and 3 VCU would capitalize on double digit hit outings.
VCU jumped on Davidson in Saturday’s game with a 5 run first inning and they didn’t let up, they would score in every frame between the 5th and 8th, leading to a 14-0 victory. Darian Carpenter and Logan Farrar led the way for the Black and Gold offense. Both seniors blasted homers, Farrar clobbered a 2 run homer in the first inning and Carpenter crushed a solo shot in the 8th. The duo combined for 6 RBI’s and 5 runs scored but it wasn’t just them helping out, every VCU starter recorded a hit in this contest.
Brooks Vial got the Saturday start for the Rams. He pitched 6 shutout innings but got himself into serious trouble in his first inning of work. Vial loaded the bases but used two strike outs to work himself out of the jam. He allowed 9 hits in his start but managed to spread them out enough to keep the Cats off the scoreboard.
Rams Take Game 3
In the Easter Sunday rubber match, VCU’s Michael Dailey squared off against Evan Roberts. Both starting pitchers had laborious outings. Dailey had 4 innings pitched with 3 runs but only 1 was earned. He allowed 3 hits and 2 walks. All 3 runs were scored in the third inning. A 2 out error led to a 2 RBI single giving the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
The deficit cued VCU’s offense to score in four consecutive innings, including 3 runs in the 5th and 5 in the 6th. Zac Ching and Dylan Isquirdo did most of the heavy lifting for their offense. Ching had a 3 hit, 5 RBI day and scored 2 runs. The shortstop hit a 3 run homer in the 6th to cap off the decisive inning. Isquirdo also added 3 hits with 2 RBI’s and a run scored.
Will Robertson got his second homerun of the series for the Wildcats in the 5th frame; it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Rams, who scored in 5 of their 8 offensive frames. 6 different Rams had multi-hit days, VCU out hit Davidson 16-8 en route to an 11-4 victory.
Leading the Atlantic 10
VCU improved their record to 21-15 and 10-2 in conference play. Davidson needed to win this series to make up ground on the A-10 leaders but they fall to 8-7 in the league. The Rams own a game and a half lead over 2nd place Rhode Island. Unfortunately the two programs won’t meet each other in the regular season.
The Rams have a non-conference home game with VMI on Tuesday. Next weekend they will travel to New York to play Fordham.
