Score: VCU 7, Dayton 6
Location: Richmond, Va. (The Diamond)
Records: VCU 37-14, Dayton 24-27
 
The short story: VCU baseball defeated Dayton 7-6 to claim its second Atlantic 10 conference title and clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament Saturday night at The Diamond.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Senior second baseman Steven Carpenter submitted a 4-for-6 performance at the plate with a double and two RBI
• Freshman third baseman Tyler Locklear continued his dominant year, going 1-for-3 with an RBI and three walks
• Freshman shortstop Connor Hujsak collected a triple and scored two runs in four plate appearances

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Dayton jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the two innings.
• Hogan Brown began the third with a walk and Locklear drove him home with a one-out single to center to cut the lead to 3-1.
• Dayton was looking to do more damage in the bottom half of the inning, but freshman Jack Masloffescaped a bases-loaded jam with two straight strikeouts and keep it the score at 3-1
• VCU played small ball and broke the game open in the fourth with five runs. After the Rams loaded the bases on walks and a hit-by-pitch, Hunter Vay came home on a wild pitch. An RBI groundout from Brown and an RBI single from Carpenter gave the Rams a 4-3 lead.
• Following a RBI groundout by junior Liam Hibbits, Locklear sped towards the plate on a wild pitch and narrowly avoided the tag from Jay Curtis to push the lead to 6-3.
• Carpenter added an insurance run in the fifth with an RBI single to score Hujsak.

 
 
NOTABLE

• VCU extended its program-record winning streak to 21 games, which is also the longest active streak in the nation.
• Vay was named the A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player.

 
UP NEXT
The Rams await the selection show on ESPN2 at noon on Monday, May 31 to find out their opponent for the NCAA Regional.