Score: VCU 12, Fordham 5
Location: Richmond, Va. (The Diamond)
Records: VCU 36-18 (19-5 Atlantic 10), Fordham 16-36 (9-15 A-10)
 
The short story: VCU closed the regular season with its 11th straight win to lock in the No. 2 seed at next week's Atlantic 10 Championship.
 
FIRST PITCH

• VCU swept four straight conference series to close the year, has won 19 of its last 22 games, and is 33-10 since March 8.
• Redshirt sophomore first baseman Tyler Locklear continued his prolific end to the year, going 4-for-5 with a home run and five RBIs.
• Freshman second baseman Marcus O'Malley went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run, and two RBIs.
• Redshirt junior center fielder AJ Mathis went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, a sacrifice fly, and two runs.
• Sophomore shortstop Connor Hujsak also had a 2-for-4 day with a double, a steal, a hit-by-pitch, a run, and an RBI.
• Redshirt sophomore third baseman Ben Nippolt scored a game-high three runs.
• Sophomore right-hander Justin Humenay earned his second win of the year with 1.2 hitless innings and a pair of strikeouts.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• An RBI double from Hujsak and a sacrifice fly from Mathis gave VCU a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
• Fordham pulled a run back with an RBI walk in the top of the second.
• Redshirt sophomore catcher Nic Ericsson hit a two-out single in the bottom of the second after an 11-pitch at-bat, then Nippolt reached on a hit-by-pitch after seeing eight pitches. Locklear stepped to the plate with two runners on and launched a towering home run over the scoreboard in left to make it 5-1 in favor of VCU.
• After Fordham scored a pair of runs in the top of the third, aggressive baserunning by the Black and Gold in the bottom of the frame restored the four-run lead at 7-3. Hujsak led off the inning by wearing a hit-by-pitch, then advanced to third on a Mathis single and a flyout. On the first pitch of O'Malley's at-bat, Hujsak stole home with Mathis, who earlier had swiped second, advancing to third on a wild pitch on the back end of the play. After O'Malley walked, Mathis crossed home plate on a double steal attempt before O'Malley was tagged out in a rundown.
• VCU broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning. O'Malley delivered a two-run single up the middle, redshirt sophomore left fielder Cooper Benzin scored on a wild pitch, and Locklear rounded out the damage with a two-run single through the right side.
• After Fordham hit a two-run double in the sixth to cut the lead to 12-5, freshman right-hander Nick Frazier ended the inning on one pitch, and posted scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth.
• Redshirt senior righty Edwin Serrano threw a scoreless ninth inning, ending the game on back-to-back strikeouts.

 
LOCKLEAR RECORD WATCH

• Locklear is now in sole possession of second place in VCU history with 33 career home runs.
• He has hit 16 homers for the second straight year, tying himself for the second most in a single season in program history.
• His 65 runs are the 10th most all-time in a single season by a Ram, while his 69 RBIs this year rank fourth all-time.

 
NOTABLE

• Hujsak leads VCU with 16 stolen bases this season.
• Locklear is also tops on VCU with 76 hits, 23 multi-hit games, 16 multi-RBI games, and four games with at least 5 RBIs.
• VCU honored nine seniors before the game: Jaden Griffin, Logan Amiss, Maddison Furman, Cooper Benzin, Nolan Wilson, Evan Chenier, graduate assistant Troy Bracey, graduate assistant Karan Tyagi, and student manager Mitch Morris.

 
UP NEXT
VCU opens the Atlantic 10 Championship Tuesday, May 24 against Richmond at 7 p.m. The tournament is being held at Wilson Field on the campus of Davidson College in Davidson, N.C. Admission is free and the games will be streamed on ESPN+. The Rams took two out of three games in a series against the Spiders at Pitt Field earlier this year from April 15-17.