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Virginia Commonwealth University

#LetsGoVCU
BSBErkaAction_SJU23
3
VCU VCU 16-14, 2-2 A-10
5
Winner Saint Joseph's SJU 11-14, 3-1 A-10
VCU VCU
16-14, 2-2 A-10
3
Final
5
Saint Joseph's SJU
11-14, 3-1 A-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
VCU VCU 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 4 0
Saint Joseph's SJU 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 X 5 8 0

W: McCAUSLAND, Will (3-1) L: Gordon, Christian (2-2) S: McSHANE, Matt (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

RAMS LOSE OPENING GAME AT SAINT JOSEPH'S

Final Score: Saint Joseph's 5, VCU 3
Winning Pitcher: Will McCausland (3-1)
Losing Pitcher: Christian Gordon (2-2)
Save: Matt McShane (1)
Location: Philadelphia, Pa. (Smithson Field)
Records: VCU 16-14 (2-2), Saint Joseph's 11-14 (3-1)
 
The Short Story: Despite playing great defense and getting a career day out of the pen from Brendan Erka, VCU Baseball could not find the timely hit they needed dropping its opening Atlantic 10 weekend series at Saint Joseph's.
 
LEADING OFF: 
  • Erka came out of the pen to relieve starter Christan Gordon in the second inning and went on to toss seven outstanding innings of work, giving up only five hits and allowing just two earned runs.
  • The Rams were solid defensively, picking off a runner at first and committing no errors in the game.
  • William Bean drew a pair of walks and now has a team-high 31 walks.
  • AJ Mathis, Will Carlone and Nic Ericsson all recorded an RBI.
  • Christian Gordon started, but only pitched one inning, giving up three runs on three hits.
HOW IT HAPPENED: 
  • Saint Joseph's opened the game with three runs in the first inning to take a quick 3-0 lead.
  • In the second, the Rams got on the board with a pair of runs.
  • Bean got it started with a one-out walk and after singles from Logan Amiss and Harrison Long, the bases were loaded.
  • Ericsson drew a walk to score Bean from third and with the bases still full of Rams, Mathis smacked an infield single to second base to score Amiss and put the Rams down 3-2.
  • Erka took the mound in the second and began to go to work. Over the next seven frames, Erka would face the minimum in five of those innings.
  • In the fourth, Erka allowed his first hit, but thanks to a timely toss over to first Erka picked off the Hawks' Luca Trigiani to end the inning.
  • The Hawks added important insurance runs in the fifth with a pair, extending their lead to 5-2.
  • Mathis manufactured the next and final run for VCU, leading off the eighth with a walk. He then advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches. Mathis was then knocked in by Carlone making it 5-3.
  • But in the ninth VCU could not get the offense going, despite Bean walking with one out to allow for the tying run to be at the plate, the Rams could not tie things up to fall 5-3.
UP NEXT: The Rams and Hawks continue their A-10 weekend series with a 2 p.m. start tomorrow (Apr. 8) at Smithson Field. Saturday's game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
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