Score: No. 2 VCU 4, No. 7 Richmond 3 (Atlantic 10 Championship First Round)
Location: Davidson, N.C. (Wilson Field)
Records: VCU 37-18 Richmond 26-25
 
The short story: The Rams won their 12th straight game to advance to the winner's bracket on the opening day of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Graduate catcher Jacob Selden went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI.
• Redshirt junior right fielder Logan Amiss went 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
• Redshirt sophomore first baseman Tyler Locklear recorded a hit in his only official at-bat, then drew three walks, including two intentional walks, and scored a run.
• Freshman right-hander Chase Hungate earned his fifth win of the year with 3.0 scoreless innings of relief, scattering two hits and walking none.
• Sophomore lefty Campbell Ellis started on the mound with 4.0 scoreless frames, allowing just one walk and one hit.
• VCU outhit Richmond 9-6, and recorded the only two extra-base hits of the game.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ellis cruised through his four innings, never allowing a runner past second and inducing eight groundouts.
• Redshirt sophomore third baseman Ben Nippolt flashed the leather in the first and sixth innings, making a diving stop and then a great scoop and throw to record outs at the hot corner.
• Amiss made a sliding catch in right in the top of the fifth to keep the game scoreless.
• The Rams opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Redshirt sophomore designated hitter Will Carlone led off the frame by reaching on a throwing error, then scored when Selden smacked an opposite-field RBI double off the wall in left. Selden moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from redshirt sophomore left fielder Cooper Benzin, then scored when freshman second baseman Marcus O'Malley sent an RBI single through the right side.
• VCU doubled its lead in the seventh with a big two-out base hit from Amiss. Benzin led off the inning with an infield single, then with two outs, Locklear was intentionally walked. Amiss worked a full count, then lined a single into right that scored both runners and pushed the Rams' advantage to 4-0.
• Redshirt sophomore lefty Jack Masloff stranded a pair of runners in the top of the eighth by striking out the side.
• The Spiders scratched three runs across in the top of the ninth, but Masloff ended the rally with a swinging strikeout.

 
NOTABLE

• Locklear leads the Rams with 66 runs, 77 hits, and 38 walks this season. The 66 runs are the 10th most in a single season in VCU history. He has also reached base in 38 straight games.
• Benzin laid down his 13th sac bunt of the season, the most in the A-10.
• Richmond's starting pitcher, Brock Weirather, threw a complete game shutout against the Rams on April 15. Weirather was handed the loss after throwing 128 pitches in 6.2 innings and allowing all four VCU runs.

 
UP NEXT
VCU faces Saint Joseph's in the winner's bracket Wednesday, May 25 at 3:30 p.m. from Wilson Field. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and admission is free. The Rams won two out of three against the Hawks in a series from April 22-24.