Score: VCU 5, Western Carolina 2
Location: Greenville, S.C. (Fluor Field)
Winning Pitcher: Brian Curley (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: Gavin Mortenson (0-1)
Save: Nick Cosentino (2)
Records: VCU 10-4, Western Carolina 4-9
 
The short story: Behind a career-high nine strikeouts by sophomore Brian Curley, VCU Baseball took its second game of the day, beating Western Carolina by holding the Catamounts scoreless for seven innings while building a lead the VCU staff protected to lock down the win.
 
LEADING OFF

• Curley got the win behind 4.2 scoreless innings out of the pen, striking out nine while walking zero batters and giving up just three hits
• Senior Nick Cosentino got his second save of the season, finishing off the final two frames, giving up zero earned runs and zero hits
• Graduate Eli Weisner led the Rams with two RBIs, while junior Casey Kleinman got his first career home run, scoring a team-high two runs
• Western Carolina's James Hinson and Nate Stocum each got two hits to lead the Catamounts at the dish

THE STRETCH

• Kleinman got things started when he took Western Carolina starter Gavin Mortenson deep over the left field Green Monster to lead the game off and it gave the Rams a quick 1-0 lead
• Western Carolina would score two runs in the second, the only two runs they would manage for the entire game
• Despite the second inning, VCU starter sophomore Zachary Peters struck out four batters, battling for over 2.1 frames
• Curley took the bump in the third inning with one out and a runner at second, and proceed to be lights out. Shutting down Western Carolina for the next four frames, allowing for VCU to battle back and retake the lead
• In the fifth, VCU did exactly that, and redshirt senior Cooper Benzin got it started with a single to short. Kleinman walked and it set the plate for senior Brandon Eike
• Sitting on a 2-2 count, Eike smashed a double to left field that scored both Kleinman and Benzin tying the game at 2-2
• After freshman Chris McHugh was hit by a pitch, Weisner singled through the left side, scoring both Eike and Kleinman and giving the Rams back the lead at 4-2
• Graduate Ethan Iannuzzi then laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to score McHugh and extend VCU's lead to 5-2
• Curley continued to dominate over the next two frames before giving way to Cosentino in the eighth.
• Cosentino then finished things off, locking up VCU's perfect day and extended the VCU winning streak to six games

NOTABLE

• The Rams have now won six-straight games, their longest winning streak since 2022
• Curley has now tossed 7.2 scoreless frames over his last two appearances, with 14 strikeouts and just one walk allowed
• In Cosentino's last two appearances he has recorded a pair of saves, throwing 5.0 scoreless frames in that stretch

NEXT UP
VCU will finish its weekend at the First Pitch Invitational on Sunday, Mar. 10 when they face hosting squad Michigan State at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on YouTube.