FINAL: VCU 5 (3-6), #16 North Carolina 6 (8-3) (Chapel Hill, N.C.) – Boshamer Stadium

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

NORTH CAROLINA STARTERS: Lassiter (LF), Myers (SS), Chacon (DH), Ramirez (RF), Warmoth (3B), Raburn (2B), Pate (CF), Gahagan (1B), Dunbar (C), Daniels (SP)

THE BASICS: Heading into the ninth inning down 5-2, VCU mounted an incredible comeback, scoring three runs with two outs to tie the game at 5-5. However a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth would plate the game-winning run and give North Carolina a 6-5 victory. Offensively the Rams drew nine walks on the day, and pitching-wise Daniel Concepcion continued his stellar start to the season by throwing three shutout innings. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• VCU struck first in the top of the second. Jimmy Kerrigan singled to right field and Walker Haymaker reached on an error by the shortstop. Cooper Mickelson roped a single to right that scored Kerrigan and gave the Rams a 1-0 lead.
• The lead wouldn't last long, however, as the bottom half of the frame saw the Tar Heels respond in a big way. They tied the game up on a single up the middle and plated two more on a second base hit to make the score 3-1. UNC stole three bases that inning and took two more on an error and a wild pitch, making those three runs much easier to earn despite doing it all with two outs.
• In the top of the third James Bunn got things going with an 11-pitch at-bat that eventually ended in a walk, then he advanced to third on a single from Matt Davis, which was then followed by a very early North Carolina pitching change. It worked well enough, as the new hurler forced a double play out of Vimael Machin that scored Bunn from third and made the score 3-2.
• Daniel Concepcion came into the game in relief of Dwyer in the bottom of the fourth and, like he has all season, shut down the UNC offense. His three shutout innings kept the Rams in the game despite not producing much on the offensive end.
• The top of the eighth saw the Rams have their best scoring chance since early in the game; the heart of the VCU order drew three straight walks (and prompting North Carolina to bring in its sixth pitcher of the day), though the first was negated due to Davis being thrown out trying to steal second. They would end the inning without scoring a run.
• UNC would add a couple of runs in the bottom of the eighth via two VCU errors to make the score 5-2.
• Yet again, the Rams were able to make things interesting in the ninth inning, but unlike previous games this season they were able to bring themselves all the way back. Mickelson and Farrar drew consecutive walks and James Bunn drove them both in with a double to bring his team within one, 5-4. A Davis walk was followed by a Machin double to right field that tied the game up at 5-5. In the ninth inning VCU had three walks, two doubles, and scores three runs...all with two outs.
• The bottom of the ninth started off with a walk and a sacrifice bunt, then a single to center field nearly scored the runner from second base but a laser throw from Kerrigan held him at third. After loading the bases, a wild pitch pushed the winning run across the plate, making the final score 6-5.

UP NEXT

• VCU will head down to Florida for a three-game set with the University of Jacksonville. Friday's game starts at 6:30 pm.

QUOTABLE

• "I thought the way we competed today, both on the mound and at the plate, was outstanding. Those were some of the best at-bats, by far, that we've put together so far this season. I'm really proud of the way we came back after we gave up those two runs in the bottom of the eighth; to come back with nobody on and two outs and string together those at-bats and score those three runs to tie the game, and to get those big at-bats from James Bunn, Cooper Mickelson, and Vimael Machin was truly outstanding. But we had a couple of costly mistakes late in the game and as well as early on; against a good team you can't have that, and North Carolina is a very good program. We'll be looking forward to building off of the competitiveness that we showed today." -Head coach Shawn Stiffler