BASEBALL: Fourth-inning rally sparks Rams

In 16 games thus far, the VCU Rams haven’t quite been able to
put things together-when the pitching has been on, the hitting
has been off, and vice versa.

But the Rams were able to buck the trend and put things together
Sunday.

Catcher Carlos Rodriguez (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/PRBA) hit a
two-run double to give VCU a fourth-inning lead. Matthew Leskiw
(Plains, Pa./Plains) followed with an RBI single for insurance and
starting pitcher Phillip Deane (Richmond/Varina) pitched 7.1 strong
innings to lead VCU to a 5-3 win over the Manhattan Jaspers at
The Diamond.

The win gave the Rams their first series victory of the season-
something that Deane thinks is an important step for the
rest of the season.
“It’s good to get a series win. Now we know we can do it and
we just have to build on it,” the pitcher said.
Deane got off to a hot start, retiring eight of the first nine batters
he faced. The lone blemish was a one-out double by Jaspers catcher
Dom Lombardi in the second inning. However, the next two batters
were turned away, ending any chances of runs.
The Rams responded with the first run of the game in the
bottom half of the inning. Designated hitter Michael Cheatham
(Chesterfield/Matoaca) led off the inning with a walk and advanced
to third when Jared Bolden (Lynchburg/E.C. Glass) followed with
a single. The next batter, third baseman Joe Van Meter (Brooklyn,
N.Y./St. Dominic), flew out deep to right field allowing Cheatham
to score, but Bolden was doubled up at first base after running too
far, thinking the ball would fall for a hit.

Manhattan finally cracked Deane’s pitching in the fourth inning
and briefly took the lead. Deane hit left fielder Mark Onorati to
open the inning. Eric Nieto followed with a single, and Chad
Salem belted a double that scored Onorati. Lombardi reached first
when Salem was thrown out at third base. Lombardi then stole
second and came around to score when Deane moved too slowly
on an unassisted out at first. The Manhattan threat ended when
designated hitter Anthony Armenio popped out to third base, but
the Jaspers held a 3-1 lead.

The Rams would respond with a two-out rally in the bottom
half of the inning. After both shortstop Chris Jackson (Midlothian/
Manchester) and Cheatham grounded out, Bolden singled and
advanced to second after the Manhattan center fielder mishandled
the ball. Van Meter was hit by a pitch and right fielder Justin
Wright (Yorktown/Grafton) doubled, scoring Bolden. Van Meter could have scored on the play but held at third
against Coach Paul Keyes’ orders. While the baserunning
error could have hurt the Rams, it did
not matter-Rodriguez followed with his double
to break a 3-3 tie and Leskiw followed suit with
the single to plate Rodriguez and to give the Rams
all the runs they would need.

Deane’s pitching would hold up through the
seventh inning and into the eighth before he
was pulled in favor of Aaron Morgan (Sutherland/
Dinwiddie). Morgan struck out both batters
he faced in the eighth and the first two in the
ninth before running into a bit of trouble. The
left-hander walked Austin Sheffield and gave up
a single to Armenio before fanning Ruben Perez
to end the game. Morgan earned the save, the first
of his career. Bolden and Wright each finished
with two hits for the Rams while Deane struck
out three batters.

With the win, Keyes hopes to see more improvement
but doesn’t think the Rams have solved all
their problems.

“You can’t expect to do it all in one day,” he
said.

By the numbers

Manhattan (4-9-1) 000 300 000 3 4 2

VCU (4-12) 010 400 00x 5 7 0
Forman, Gazzola (7) and Lombardi; Deane,
Morgan (8) and Rodriguez. W: Deane (1-2).
L: Forman (0-3). S: Morgan (1).