Score: VCU 11, Army 3
Location: Richmond, Va. (The Diamond)
Records: VCU 7-8, Army 5-6
 
VCU baseball earned its second weekend series victory at The Diamond on Saturday, climbing to an 11-3 win over Army as six different Rams drove in runs to build on a quality start from Patrick Steitz on the mound.
 
LEADING OFF:

• The Rams had a season-high nine walks drawn
• Steitz earned his team-leading third win in four starts as a Ram, matching both his career highs in innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (5)
• Earning his first career save, Everett Vaughan had his longest outing since returning from injury, tossing three frames
• Offensively, Alec Warden led the Rams with a career-best three RBI, while Dante DeFranco, Nick Flores and Nate Kirkpatrick all tallied a pair of hits
• DeFranco homered for the second time this week, raising his season total to three
• Getting plunked twice for two RBI, Quinn Maher had his second two-HBP game of the season
• For the second time in his young career, sophomore Nick Flores belted two doubles
• Teige Lethert reached base three times on two walks and a hit by pitch. Notably, had the game's only stolen base, swiping just the second bag of his collegiate career

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• DeFranco's leadoff hit and two-out walks from Kirkpatrick and Petite led the way for Maher's RBI hit by pitch to open the scoring in the game, 1-0
• Steitz erased his lone baserunner of the first two frames with a pickoff, facing the minimum, as DeFranco homered to extend the Rams' lead to three
• Hurlers traded zeros on the mound into the sixth frame before Army snapped the shutout with a two-run bloop single to cut the Rams' lead to one run, 3-2
• Eight Rams came to bat in the seventh inning, taking advantage of free passes again to extend their lead to 6-2. Flores led off the frame with his second double of the day, and Lee and Kirkpatrick loaded the bases with a pair of walks, before the trio came around to score
• Batting around in the eighth inning, Rams erupted for a five-run frame that featured four walks, a hit by pitch and three RBI base knocks to extend VCU's lead to 11-2
• Army scratched a run across in the ninth inning, but Vaughan limited the damage to one to clinch the weekend for the Rams with a final score of 11-3

 
UP NEXT
VCU and Army will conclude the weekend series at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, at The Diamond as the Rams look to complete their sweep. The series finale will be broadcast on ESPN+.