FINAL: VCU 1 (26-19, 8-8 A10), Saint Louis 7 (29-16, 10-6 A10)

LOCATION:  Billiken Sports Center – Saint Louis, Mo.

VCU STARTERS: Farrar (CF), Bunn (LF), Hileman (DH), Machin (SS), Carpenter (1B), Acker (Rf), Davis (3B), Haymaker (C), Berezo (2B), Thompson (SP)

SAINT LOUIS STARTERS: Murphy (RF), Vigliorolo (1B), Henson (C), Martinez (3B), Frabasilio (LF), Bunselmeyer (2B), Sniatysnski (CF), Mannion (DH), King (SS), Smith (SP)

THE BASICS: The VCU bats were quiet on Friday night in its 7-1 loss to Saint Louis. The Rams collected just four hits in game one of the series with the Billikens, with those hits coming from James Bunn, Vimael Machin, Brett Hileman, and Matt Davis, who also scored the Rams' lone run.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Saint Louis got things started in the bottom of the second with a three-hit inning that yielded the first run of the game.
• The Rams tied it up in their next trip to the plate thanks to a fielding miscue by the Billikens that allowed Matt Davis to score.
• One of the better power hitting teams in the conference, SLU flexed its muscles in the middle innings, launching two long home runs to take a commanding 6-1 lead after five innings.
• Another Saint Louis run came in to score in the bottom of the seventh to bring the Billikens' lead to six. That 7-1 score would hold as the final and give SLU the early series lead.

QUOTABLE: "We got totally dominated on every aspect of the game tonight. Their pitcher, Clay Smith, hats off to him, he threw extremely well. Obviously they had the big swing in the fourth inning that led to a four-run inning and Smith was just too good for us to come back. We need to do a better job of being prepared tomorrow and for the rest of this weekend, Saint Louis has a good team." -Head Coach Shawn Stiffler 

UP NEXT: The Rams and the Billikens will face off again tomorrow at 2 CT here in Saint Louis.