VCU baseball head coach Paul Keyes joked that last Tuesday’s game against Virginia Tech was a good one for the kids on hand at Petersburg Sports Complex.
The punchline, of course, it was past most of those kids’ bed times by the end of the first two innings, which took about 45 minutes to get through.
It took the Hokies three hours and 35 minutes to finish off a 19-9 pounding of the Rams in the first of four meetings between the two teams. They will renew the battle on Friday with a three-game nonconference series in Blacksburg.
Not only were the 19 runs the Rams gave up to the Hokies the most they’ve allowed all season, depending on when you start counting, the Rams haven’t given up that many runs this millennium.
When the team traveled down to Auburn to face the Tigers (6-6 SEC, 23-13 overall), they gave up 21 runs all weekend. During the team’s nine-game winning streak from Feb. 26 to Mar. 13, it allowed 26 runs.
“It was just one of those days when nothing went right,” said Rams ace Harold Mozingo.
“The key to that game,” coach Keyes said, “was pitching.”
The team responded to its midweek lapse by taking two of three games from Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary.
In Friday’s 14-4 win, Mozingo fanned eight batters and gave up four runs to earn his fifth straight win of the season and stop a potential skid.
Still, the Rams gave up 20 runs in that weekend set, including a dozen in a 12-9 loss to the Tribe on Sunday.
At 18-8, the Rams have played their way into the national picture, earning a nod from Baseball America, which gave the team an at-large bid in its projected NCAA tournament field.
As a team, the Rams are virtual lumber factory. VCU leads the CAA in batting with a .327 team clip. Individually, the Rams Scott Sizemore is swinging a bushido blade at the plate, hitting .471 through 18 games and slugging .951, the best percent in the nation.
In order for the Rams to make good on the predictions, however, their pitching staff will have to surge down the stretch.
With a chance to pick up their first CAA sweep this season, the Rams let the Tribe explode for 12 runs. Junior right-hander Marcus Davis took a flawless 3-0 record into the weekend, but gave up seven runs (four earned) and left the mound after 3.1 innings with his first loss of the season.
It was loss, he said, that never should have happened.
“Any time you score nine runs in a game you should never lose,” Davis said. “Our hitters have been doing their job. Our pitching staff is definitely going to have to step up.”
So far, the Rams have relied on a cast of young arms to go along with the more experienced arms of Davis, a junior, and Mozingo, a sophomore, who with six wins is tied with UNC Wilmington’s Ronald Hill for CAA leader.
Newcomer Wayne Renfro threw six shutout innings in his Rams debut, walking four and striking out four to earn his first win. Since then he’s gone 1-1 with a 7.40 ERA in 11 appearances out, both as a starter and out of the bullpen.
Redshirt sophomore John Leonard moved from pen duties to starter early in the season, but his four starts this season are essentially his first since high school after the Clemson transfer suffered an arm injury in 2003.
Junior Michael Gibbs, in his first year with the Rams, and freshman Brett Walker have also taken the mound for the Rams with mixed results.
Gibbs is 2-1 in 6 appearances, but gave up six earned runs in the loss to Tech. Walker has an identical record in 14 outings and his 3.96 ERA is third best on team among pitchers with more than five appearances.
With conference series against George Mason, Hofstra, Old Dominion, and Delaware still on tap as well as a and a trip to North Carolina to battle CAA-leader UNC Wilmington, Mozingo said pitching will be crucial down. But the Rams’ newer arms will become more stable as they see more innings.
“Once the experience comes around, they’re going to be fine.”
VCU’s team ERA of 4.92 is fifth best in the conference.
“If we can keep it under five runs a game, we can win a lot,” Mozingo said.
Davis is the likely starter for Sunday’s game against the Hokies. Over his past two starts he said he’s struggled with being consistent in the strike zone. In his three wins this season, Davis has just four walks. He walked that many in 3.1 innings last Sunday plus another three passes the week before at James Madison.
His start against the Hokies will be a chance to regain his early season form.
“I’m not going to change anything,” Davis said. “I’m taking it as another start. I’m trying to stay positive, and I’m sure the team is thinking the same way.”