Baseball splits double header against William & Mary

VCU Baseball finished their double header with Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary 1-1 Saturday afternoon. The Rams met their season high 18 hits again in game one to finish 16-1 against the Tribe. In game two, William & Mary’s pitcher Chris Ray gave up only two hits to shut the Rams out for seven innings. The Tribe improved to a 4-3 CAA record with the win against the Rams. The Rams dropped to 8-2 (26-8 overall).

Junior second baseman Nick Jones and freshman Joe Meador earned three hits and three RBIs a piece in the game-one victory. Senior right fielder Justin Mattison went 3-5, with a solo home run and earned 2 RBIs.

Sophomore right hander Justin Orenduff moved up to 4-2 for the season, pitching seven innings in the first game of the double header. Orenduff had nine strike outs while only giving up one run against William & Mary.

The Rams started the first inning strong, scoring four runs against Tribe freshman Forrest Cory who earned his first loss of the year. Mattison earned his third home run of the year in the second inning to put the Rams up 5-0. By the end of the fifth inning VCU was up 8-0.

In the fifth, William & Mary junior Mitch Walk earned the Tribe’s single run of the game after hitting a home run. Walk had three of the Tribes seven hits for the game.

In game two, Ray had eight strike outs, giving up only two walks in a close duel with VCU’s Sean Marshall. Marshall gave up only five hits while striking out eight.

The Tribe grabbed an early lead in the first inning when leadoff batter Chris Rahl earned a triple, then came in when VCU shortstop Paul Swack overthrew Granato on the play at third base. William & Mary then scored again in the fourth when Trey Wakefield batted in Michael Brown to give the Tribe the 2-0 score for the win.

The Rams will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. April 15, to face North Carolina. VCU’s next home game is against Hofstra on April 18 at 7 p.m.