Score: Virginia 7, VCU 6 (11 innings)
Location: Charlottesville, Va. (Disharoon Park)
Records: VCU 4-6, Virginia 9-1
 
VCU stacked timely hitting on top of Cade Tousa's strong offensive start to take a late lead at Virginia Saturday evening but a pair of fielding errors allowed the Cavaliers to win in walk-off fashion in 11 innings. The Rams scored a run apiece in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but Virginia's pair of late-inning unearned runs were good for a 7-6 final.
 
LEADING OFF:

• Cade Tousa made his first start as a Ram at second base, going 3-5 with a pair of RBI and a run
• On the mound, Patrick Steitz matched his career-best 6.0 innings and 5 strikeouts
• Everett Vaughan extended his hitless streak to 4.1 innings, tossing a pair of clean frames
• Tousa, Quinn Maher (2) and Dante DeFranco (2) each had multi-hit games
• Teige Lethert smacked his first home run as a Ram
• VCU played its first extra-inning contest of the season

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Virginia scored first on a solo shot from AJ Gracia
• Trading scoreless frames into the fourth inning, VCU got on the board to match Virginia, 1-1, on an RBI groundout by Jacob Lee
• The Rams had to work back from a deficit after the Cavaliers posted three runs in the fourth inning, but VCU chipped away with a two-run single from Tousa in the fifth
• DeFranco tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh, lacing a single through a pair of converging Cavalier infielders
• Maher hit a go-ahead single to center field in the eighth, and Lethert's towering 430-foot home run game VCU a 6-4 advantage in the top of the ninth
• A pair of fielding errors in the ninth and 11^th innings aided the tying and walk-off runs, giving Virginia a 7-6 win

 
UP NEXT
VCU returns to The Diamond to wrap the weekend series against Virginia at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 1. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Rams will kick off a nine-game homestand that will take them into conference play.