FARMVILLE, Va. –Virginia Commonwealth University's potent offense was unable to solve Longwood right-hander Chris Briere, who threw seven shutout innings to quiet the Rams in a 6-0 loss Wednesday at Bolding Stadium.

The Rams have lost four straight to fall to 9-7 on the year, while Longwood snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 8-5.

VCU managed just two singles against Briere (2-1), who struck out seven and did not walk a batter in seven innings of work. The Rams advanced one runner past second base against Briere. Mark Montgomery threw the final two scoreless innings and combined with Briere on a three-hit shutout. All three VCU hits were singles.

Freshman Kyle Haynes (Stafford, Va.) took the loss for VCU. Haynes, who fell to 1-1 this year, allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one.

Haynes retired the first six batters he faced, but the Lancers touched him up for a run in the third. Longwood's David Smiy led off the frame with a single back through the box.  Two batters later, Brant Jones stroked a double over the third base bag for a 1-0 lead.

The Lancers added another run in the bottom of the fourth when Justin Lacy hammered a ball past a diving Taylor Perkins in the right center.  Casey Havers, who reached earlier on an error, came all the way around from first base to score.

Haynes ran into more trouble in the fifth inning. Longwood's Phil Cerreto smacked an RBI single and later stole second base. Havers followed with a sky-high fly ball to deep right center. VCU's Taylor Perkins (Dinwiddie, Va.) gave chase, but the ball dropped just inside the right field line for a triple to score Cerreto and give the Lancers a 4-0 lead.

Longwood added a pair of runs against Ram reliever Joe Van Meter (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), including a solo home run by Robbie Bailey in the eighth.

The Rams will head home and prepare for a three-game set with Western Kentucky March 19-21 at The Diamond. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.