Sweep eludes Rams, Tribe escape with 12-9 win
The Rams faced a different kind of test going into this weekend’s series with Willaim and Mary.
It didn’t come with any scantron sheets either.
For weeks the team had the team had the buzz that came with winning eight of 11 games. Then came a 19-9 loss to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, killing said buzz
After using six pitchers and finding no answers, head coach Paul Keyes said his team would now have the confidence it had built up all season tested as it headed into a three-game Colonial Athletic Association set with the Tribe.
The Rams faced a different kind of test going into this weekend’s series with Willaim and Mary.
It didn’t come with any scantron sheets either.
For weeks the team had the team had the buzz that came with winning eight of 11 games. Then came a 19-9 loss to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, killing said buzz
After using six pitchers and finding no answers, head coach Paul Keyes said his team would now have the confidence it had built up all season tested as it headed into a three-game Colonial Athletic Association set with the Tribe.
The Rams response: taking two out of three games for the third straight series and boosting their record to 18-8 on the season and 6-3 in the CAA.
The Rams won in dominating fashion on a wet Friday night, beating the Tribe 14-4 at the Petersburg Sports Complex.
Harold Mozingo won his sixth game of the year, fanning eight batters in seven innings
And upping his conference-leading strikeout total to 62 in eight starts this season.
Sophomore second baseman Scott Sizemore and freshman shortstop Sergio Miranda both went 3 for 5. Miranda Crosse the plate three times and Sizemore added another two runs.
In his debut in the cleanup spot, junior Tim St. Clair went 2 for 4 with three RBI and a pair of runs as the designated hitter. He had plated Miranda on run-scoring singles in the third and fourth innings when the Rams exploded for 12 of their 14 runs.
The Rams came from behind to win game two on Saturday.
After Brent McWhorter’s three-run homer to right-center gave the Tribe a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning, the Rams combined the spotless relief pitching Cody Eppley with the timely hitting of Barrett Ripley.
Eppley threw four scoreless innings, allowing just three base runners and keeping the Rams within striking distance. After sophomore outfielder Trai Harris scored the game-tying run in the seventh inning, Ripley stepped up in the eighth and pulled two-run single to right centerfield to give the Rams a two-run lead they’d never relinquish.
With a chance to sweep the Tribe and stay within two games of conference-leading UNC Wilmington, VCU dropped the third game 12-9 on Sunday.
Coming off a rocky start at James Madison, junior right hander Marcus Davis gave up seven runs (four earned) in on just four hits in 3.1 innings.
He threw a pair of wild pitches in the first inning, which coupled with an error by Thai Blackburn contributed to William & Mary’s three-run first inning.
The Tribe pile on another eight runs between the fourth and sixth innings. The only earned runs in that span came in the fourth inning when William and Mary third baseman Chad Murray trotted home on center fielder Terry Revere’s walk and a when McWhorter hit a two run single to make the score 6-3.
The Rams are still in second place in the conference, but UNCW made itself a little breathing room, picking up a game on the Rams by extending their conference unbeaten streak to nine games.
The Rams play VMI in Petersburg on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Blacksburg on Friday for payback in a three-game set with the Hokies.
