FINAL: VCU 11 (9-8), Minnesota 4 (6-9)

LOCATION: The Diamond – Richmond, Va.

VCU STARTERS: Farrar (CF), Bunn (LF), Davis (3B), Machin (SS), Carpenter (1B), Kerrigan (RF), Hileman (DH), Haymaker (C), Berezo (2B), Blanchard (SP).

MINNESOTA STARTERS: Smith (LF), Schaefbauer (2B), Fiedler (RF), Hanson (1B), Handel (SS), Coffey (DH), Skjefte (3B), Boxwell (CF), Athmann (C), Shannon (SP)

THE BASICS: Trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, VCU scored a season-high nine runs  and added two more in the next inning en route to an 11-4 win over the visiting Minnesota Golden Gophers. Jimmy Kerrigan's 2-run home run capped off the big seventh inning and he went a perfect 3-for-3 on the night.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Minnesota got on the scoreboard first in the top of the second with a 2-run home run to left field after a leadoff triple. It would get its other two runs on another 2-run shot, this one in the top of the sixth and to the opposite side of the ballpark.
• Despite the high run total, VCU didn't even register a hit until the bottom of the fifth inning when Kerrigan led off with a single up the middle. 
• The big seventh inning saw 12 Rams come to the plate during the nine-run offensive explosion. The first run came on a sacrifice fly and runs two and three were the result of a single from Daane Berezo and a passed ball. A couple batters later Matt Davis drove in two runs on a single up the middle that gave the Rams their first lead of the night, 5-4. Two more runs came in on another passed ball and, with two outs in the inning, Kerrigan launched his home run to left field that put VCU up 9-4 in its most productive inning of the season. It was his second home run of the season.
• Two more runs came in for VCU in the bottom of the eighth. Davis smacked a fly ball deep enough to score Walker Haymaker from third base and Vimael Machin got in on the action with a single to right field that brought in Logan Farrar.
• After that home run in the sixth by Minnesota, the Rams only allowed one base runner until the end of the game, helping pave the way towards their 11-4 victory.

QUOTABLE: "Credit the guys for winning their third straight weekend series, especially coming back like that. Down 4-0, we didn't have that much going offensively, but they stayed on it and kept with the process until we were finally given a chance to capitalize on a few hits and a few miscues by Minnesota. And Jimmy Kerrigan obviously gave us the big swing tonight. Matt Blanchard battled for us tonight too. It wasn't pretty early on but he kept fighting and he kept us in the game long enough to get that big inning. And of course Matt Lees and Daniel Concepcion were good for us too on the back end. It feels good to be on this side of .500; the boys have battled all year long and now we need to be ready to go and keep this thing rolling tomorrow." -Head Coach Shawn Stiffler 

UP NEXT: The Rams will play tomorrow evening, Tuesday, against Monmouth at 5 pm.