Baseball leads in suspended series against conference rival Dragons

Game two of VCU Baseball’s three-game series against the Drexel Dragons in Philadelphia was suspended Saturday due to inclement weather. The game was halted in the top of the seventh inning with the Rams up 9-2.

Junior third baseman Anthony Granato was responsible for the 2-2 tiebreak in the top of the sixth. Granato had a solo home run off Drexel’s starter Nic Beecher. Then, in the seventh inning, the Rams broke away from the Dragons, scoring six runs before the game was halted by the rain.

Junior Sean Marshall started on the mound for VCU, pitching the first five innings of the game. Marshall gave up both Drexel runs on seven hits. His twin brother, Brian Marshall, relieved him and kept the Dragons scoreless in the sixth.

The Rams trailed the Dragons 2-1 going into the top of the fifth but senior left fielder Jose Pabon hit his fourth home run of the year to tie the ballgame. Pabon was also the first Ram to score in the six-run attack in the seventh. Beecher gave up a double to Pabon, who then came in on a base hit by junior shortstop Paul Swack. Freshman center fielder Joe Meador then hit a single to put two on base. The Dragons then intentionally loaded the bases and put senior right fielder Justin Mattison on first in four pitches. Granato then hit a base hit off Drexel reliever Matt Cangialosi, which drove home Swack and Meador.

VCU was up four runs, 6-2, when junior Robbie Gragnani had a two-run single to put VCU up 8-2. Junior Nick Jones then finished up the scoring for the Rams with a run-scoring double.

Jones also gave the Rams their first run of the day in the top of the fourth when he sent Mattison home with a base hit. Drexel then responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs on four hits.

Junior Dragon shortstop Harry Ley opened the inning with a double and scored on a single by senior catcher Jason Bailey. A sacrifice bunt by junior left fielder John Tredinnick, and a base hit by right fielder Cliff Cotton, put two Drexel runners in a position to score. Then junior third baseman Jeff Lamb came home on an infield grounder to put Drexel up by one.

In game one of the three-game series, sophomores Justin Orenduff and Cla Meredith worked together to earn a one-hit shutout and lead the team to a 6-0 road victory against the Dragons.

The Rams moved to 21-7 overall and 3-1 in the CAA. The Dragons dropped to 4 -14 overall in their first conference game of the season.

Orenduff played five innings for VCU and had nine strike outs while only allowing two walks. Meredith then held the Dragons scoreless for the remainder of the game, earning his first career save.

Shane Carroll started for Drexel and held VCU scoreless for the first three innings of the game. The Rams finally broke away in the fourth inning. VCU had the bases loaded when Drexel catcher Brent Heaberlin was called for interference. Freshman Gabe Riley came home later that inning on a wild pitch by Carroll.

Mattison had a double in the fifth inning, which drove home Meador and gave VCU a 3-0 lead. Drexel’s Carroll then walked Riley and Granato back to back. Jones then hit a sacrifice fly to send in Mattison.

In the seventh inning, Granato singled and came home on a base hit by Riley. The Rams had their last run in the eighth when senior first baseman Danny Lopaze stole home.

The remainder of the rained-out series has been rescheduled. The Rams play at home Wednesday April 2 against Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.