Score: No. 3 VCU 7, No. 6 Davidson 4
Location: Tysons, Va. (Capital One Park)
Records: VCU 33-22 (20-10), Davidson 25-27 (16-14)
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VCU baseball sparked a rally following an hour and 14 minutes of lightning delays, stacking five runs on five shutout innings from the bullpen to come from behind for a fourth-straight victory over the Davidson Wildcats. The Rams opened the Atlantic 10 Championship with a 9-7 win, taking their 10
th game of the last 11 contests.
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LEADING OFF:
- Dawson Newman and Zach Peters combined to allow no runs and just one hit in five innings out of the bullpen
- Patrick Steitz allowed just two earned runs in the victory, getting his outing cut short by the weather delay, but fanning four over 4.0 innings
- VCU outhit Davidson 11-6
- Dante DeFranco, Michael Petite, Jacob Lee and Nate Kirkpatrick all collected a pair of hits, while Teige Lethert scored a pair of runs
- Kirkpatrick and Alec Warden each notched two RBI, combining to drive in VCU's final four runs for the victory
- Davidson's Simon Yochum (7-1) was credited with his first loss of the season
- Rams pitching combined for double-digit strikeouts for the fifth time in the last six games
- Sean Thompson reached his 50th win as head coach of the Rams and his first Atlantic 10 Championship victory
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Lethert had an answer to Davidson's first-inning run, getting the Rams started in the postseason by doubling in DeFranco after a leadoff infield single and coming around to score on an error
- Davidson plated three in the third inning to take a 4-2 lead
- Steitz stranded two in the top of the scoreless fourth to conclude his outing, before the Rams entered a rain delay trailing by a pair of runs
- Coming back from the break, VCU scored in three of the next four innings, combining for seven hits and five runs, including a pair of RBI hits from Kirkpatrick
- Peters shut the door on his sixth win of the season, stranding a pair of Wildcats to advance VCU to Thursday's game with a score of 7-4
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UP NEXT
VCU will play No. 2 Richmond at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, at Capital One Park in Tysons, Virginia, as it looks to advance to Friday's semifinals. More information on the A-10 Championship is available at
Championship Central.