Final Score: VCU 23, St. Bonaventure 9
Winning Pitcher:  Mason Martinez (1-0)
Losing Pitcher:  Jonny Lintell (0-3)
Location: Richmond, Va. (The Diamond)
Records: VCU 14-12 (1-0 Atlantic 10), St. Bonaventure 3-16 (0-1 Atlantic 10)
 
The Short Story:  VCU opened Atlantic 10 Conference play in the win column, scoring early and often to pull away from St. Bonaventure in a game that was suspended due to rain on Friday, Mar. 31 and finished in the early afternoon of Saturday, Apr. 1.

LEADING OFF:

• The game had a 1 hour and 11 minute rain delay and was suspended at 8:38 p.m. on Mar. 31. It was completed on Apr. 1 with first pitch coming across at 1:02 p.m.
• Logan Amiss led the offensive charge for the Rams with a career-high 5 RBIs, four of which came on a grand slam in the bottom of the first.
• Cooper Benzin, Brandon Eike, and A.J. Mathis each pitched in with two RBIs apiece.
• Despite having only four innings at the plate, the Black and Gold put up 15 runs, more than all but two of their games this season.
• The eight runs are the most scored by VCU in the opening inning this season, topping the five they put up in the opening frame against Fairfield back on Feb. 18.
• Christian Gordon picked up the win with a steady four innings of work, striking out three Bonnies.
• Evan Bert came in to pitch a scoreless five-inning, allowing only one hit.
• Jackson DeJohn was the top hitter for St. Bonaventure, with three RBIs on a fourth-inning home run.
• Brandon Eike and Jake Thilges back-to-back home runs were the first time the Rams accomplished the feat since last season. It was Eike's seventh and Thilges second homers of the season.
• Mason Martinez replaced Burt in the sixth inning and was credited with the win after facing 18 batters, and striking out three for his first-career win.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• St. Bonaventure found the scoreboard first, courtesy of a solo home run over the left field fence by Chet Szablewski.
• VCU, however, was not down for long, blowing the game wide open with eight runs. The rally began with a Eike single up the middle that plated Mathis to tie the game at one.
• Three batters later, Amiss stepped up with the bases loaded and sailed one over the fence in dead center to put the Rams on top 5-1.
• The Rams were not done scoring in the first, as Mathis doubled on his second plate appearance of the inning, bringing home Nic Ericsson and Ethan Brooks.
• Benzin capped VCU's tremendous first inning with a double to right field to plate Mathis and bring the score to 8-1.
• After a quiet second and third innings with only one St. Bonaventure run in the top of the third, both teams flashed their bats in the fourth inning. The visiting scored four in the top half of the inning, starting with a sacrifice fly by Conner Vercollone and capped by DeJohn's three-run homer over the Diamond's right-field fence to bring the Bonnies within two at 8-6.
• The Rams responded in a big way in the bottom of the fourth, lighting up the Diamond scoreboard with seven more runs.
• Just like the first inning, Eike got the scoring going with a single through the left side of the infield, allowing Benzin to score.
• Amiss then got his career-high fifth RBI of the game, singling to center field, sending Will Carlone home.
• In addition to great hitting, the Rams also took advantage of mistakes by the visiting Bonnies in the fourth inning. Eike scored when Ericsson got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. In the next at-bat, William Bean reached home on a wild pitch.
• After the wild pitch, Brooks grounded out to shortshop to bring home Amiss. Ericsson scored when Mathis reached on a fielding error by St. Bonaventure's shortstop.
• Benzin finished off a fantastic fourth inning for the Black and Gold with a double to left center. Mathis slid into home plate to make the score 15-6.
• As the rained picked up at the Diamond, Bert held St. Bonaventure scoreless in the top of the fifth before the grounds crew tarped the infield.
• The game picked back up with Evan Bert throwing a clean fifth inning, allowing no runs.
• The Rams exploded in the bottom of the eighth inning with back-to-back home runs by Eike and Thilges. VCU scored five total runs in the inning to bring the score to 23-8
• Mason Martinez carried the load on the mound for the Rams as he pitched four innings of work starting in the sixth, and finishing up the game

UP NEXT: VCU concludes its weekend series with the Bonnies with the second game, starting 30 minutes after this game finished and the final game scheduled for Sunday, Apr. 2 at 1 p.m.