Score: VCU 13, Saint Joseph's 9
Location: Richmond, Va. (The Diamond)
Records: VCU 22-15 (7-4 Atlantic 10), Saint Joseph's 20-16 (6-5 A-10)
 
The short story: VCU won its fifth straight game to clinch the conference series against the Hawks.
 
FIRST PITCH

• The Rams are 19-7 since March 8.
• The Hawks committed five errors, threw four wild pitches, and hit two batters.
• Sophomore left-hander Tyler Davis earned the win on the mound, striking out five batters in 4.0 innings, allowing a pair of runs.
• Redshirt sophomore lefty Jack Masloff tied a career high with seven strikeouts, throwing four innings of relief and allowing just one run.
• Redshirt junior right fielder Logan Amiss went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.
• Freshman second baseman Marcus O'Malley went 2-for-5 with his first career double, a run, and two RBIs.
• Redshirt sophomore third baseman Ben Nippolt went 2-for-4 with a walk and a pair of runs.
• Redshirt sophomore first baseman Tyler Locklear drew a season-high three walks, two of them intentional, and scored two runs.
• Redshirt junior designated hitter AJ Mathis had his first multi-hit game as a Ram, going 2-for-2 with a triple, a walk, a run, and an RBI.
• Sophomore shortstop Connor Hujsak collected a pair of RBIs on his fifth home run of the year, while redshirt sophomore left fielder Cooper Benzin scored a pair of runs.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Rams opened the scoring with a crooked number in the bottom of the second. After graduate catcher Jacob Selden reached on an error and Benzin ran out an infield single, O'Malley lined a double to the gap in left center to score both runners. O'Malley moved to third on freshman center fielder Jesse Robinson's flyout, then scored on a passed ball to push the lead to 3-0.
• The Hawks cut into the lead with a two-run single in the fourth, making it 3-2.
• The top of the fourth was bookended by great defensive plays from the Rams, with Benzin diving to snag a lineout in left field for the first out of the frame, and Nippolt diving to stop a ball and stepping on third base for the fielder's choice to get VCU out of a bases-loaded jam.
• VCU added a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth. After Amiss singled, Hujsak blasted a towering home run over the left field fence to make it 5-2. Mathis followed with a sun-aided triple, then scored as Selden reached on a fielding error to push the advantage to 6-2.
• Masloff delivered a shutdown inning in the top of the sixth with a pair of punch-outs.
• VCU scored three more runs in the sixth. Amiss singled with two runners on, then Nippolt came home to score on a throwing error from the Hawks' right fielder. Locklear and Amiss then scored on wild pitches to extend the lead to 9-2.
• Saint Joseph's pulled a run back with an RBI single in the seventh, but VCU tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the frame. With the bases loaded, Locklear reached on a fielding error from the shortstop that allowed Benzin to score. Amiss and Mathis both picked up RBI walks, before Locklear scored on a wild pitch, making it 13-3.
• The Hawks capitalized on two VCU errors in the ninth, scoring six runs, five of them unearned.

 
NOTABLE

• Hujsak's homer was the 12th of his career.
• VCU is 16-6 when scoring first.
• O'Malley has hits in five straight games, while Locklear (20), Nippolt (8) and Amiss (7) all extended their reached base streaks.
• Amiss leads the Rams with 14 multi-hit games this season.
• Locklear has scored a team-high 38 runs this year, while Davis has collected a team-best 51 strikeouts.

 
UP NEXT
The Rams look for the sweep of the Hawks Sunday, April 24 at 1 p.m. from The Diamond. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and tickets can be purchased here.