Score:Â VCU 6, Longwood 5
Location:Â Richmond, Va. (The Diamond)
Records:Â VCU 11-8, Longwood 9-12
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The short story:Â Redshirt sophomore designated hitterÂ
Will Carlone blasted a walk-off home run to left field in the bottom of the ninth to give VCU its eighth straight win
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FIRST PITCH
- Carlone, whose homer was the first of his career, went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBIs.
- Redshirt sophomore third baseman Tyler Locklear had a monster night, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, three runs scored, and three RBIs.
- Redshirt junior right fielder Logan Amiss extended his reached-base streak to 19 games with a 2-for-4 night that included a walk and an RBI.
- Redshirt senior right-hander Edwin Serrano earned the win on the mound after throwing a season-high 4.0 innings to close the game, including three straight scoreless frames, and striking out five batters, the most in his VCU career.
- Sophomore lefty Tyler Davis started the game with 3.0 scoreless innings, scattering two hits and collecting three strikeouts.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Locklear doubled down the left field line in the bottom of the first, then scored the first run of the game on an RBI single from Amiss.
- The Lancers took a 2-1 lead with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but VCU jumped back in front with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth.
- After redshirt sophomore center fielder Scottie O'Bryan led off with a walk, he moved to second on redshirt junior first baseman Michael Haydak's groundout, and scored on Locklear's RBI double. Locklear came home on Carlone's RBI single up the middle to make it 3-2.
- Longwood used a trio of runs in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead, with Locklear's RBI single in the bottom of the frame scoring redshirt sophomore second baseman Ben Nippolt to cut it to 5-4.
- Locklear crushed a solo home run nearly 400 feet to left in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 5-5.
- Carlone smashed his solo homer to left an inning later to give the Rams the walk-off win.
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NOTABLE
- The Rams won every game of an eight-game home stand, improving to 9-3 at The Diamond this season.
- VCU walked off for the second Tuesday in a row, after a 2-1 win over No. 12 Liberty on March 15 via a Cooper Benzin RBI bunt single.
- Locklear's home run was the 24th of his career, tying him for seventh all-time at VCU with Jared Bolden (2006-08).
- The Rams swept the season series with the Lancers, previously winning 8-3 in Farmville, Va., on Feb. 22.
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UP NEXT
The Rams start an eight-game road stretch with a visit to Norfolk State Wednesday, March 23 to take on the Spartans at 3 p.m.
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