FINAL: VCU 16 (14-10), Massachusetts 3 (3-6)

LOCATION: The Diamond – Richmond, Va.

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

UMASS STARTERS: Evangelista (DH), Adie (CF), McLam (2B), Picard (RF), Morris (LF), Yanakopulos (3B), Bare (C), Carey (1B), Scifo (SS), LeBlanc (SP)

THE BASICS: The Rams continued their torrid offensive pace tonight in their Atlantic 10 opener against Massachusetts, collecting 20 hits en route to a 16-3 victory. VCU has now outscored its opponents 42-4 over the last three games. Logan Farrar led all hitters in going 5-for-6 and four other Rams had multi-hit nights. Vimael Maching extended his hitting streak to 13 games. The top four hitters in the lineup tonight went a combined 13-for-16 with 10 runs scored and six runs batted in.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• From the get-go it was apparent that VCU would show no signs of slowing down its red hot offense. The Rams pushed across four runs in the bottom of the first, with Vimael Machin and Jimmy Kerrigan each driving in two runs.
• Matt Davis singled in James Bunn in the bottom of the second to add another run and give the Rams a 5-0 lead.
• Four more runs came in in the bottom of the third, which included a defensive miscue by the Minutemen, a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Daane Berezo, and a triple to right field by Farrar.
• The bottom of the fourth was another big inning for VCU with four more runs being added to the scoreboard. Cody Acker doubled in the first run and Walker Haymaker followed him with a two-run single. Farrar lined a base hit up the middle for the last run of the inning that gave the Rams a 13-0 lead after just four innings.
• UMass was able to get some of those runs back in the next frame. Three straight singles to lead off the inning were followed by a strikeout and then two more singles that plated three runs, cutting the Minutemen deficit to 10 runs. 
• The next two runs came in the bottom of the fifth, with Acker drawing a bases loaded walk and Brett Hileman knocking in a run on his base hit to left field. Nick Ward would drive in the final run of the game in the bottom of the seventh.
• Ben Stine and Matt Jamer came in to finish the job in VCU's 16-3 victory.

QUOTABLE: "It's great to get a good start in league play. The offense came out ready to go and the guys are playing like everything is important to them; they're coming out with great urgency on the mound, defensively, and at the plate and that's shown in our box scores. But this game has nothing to do with tomorrow. UMass has a great team, a veteran team, they're well-coached and they'll be ready to go tomorrow so we need to be ready to play as well." -Head Coach Shawn Stiffler 

UP NEXT: Game two against UMass will be tomorrow, Saturday, at 6:30.