VCU baseball report
Staff Reports
Richmond 6, VCU 3
Heading into Tuesday night’s battle with the cross-town rival Richmond Spiders, the VCU men’s baseball team knew it would be facing a team on a hot streak.
The Spiders had won 13 of their last 16 games and showed no signs of stopping, especially on their home diamond.
A three-run first inning for Richmond sparked by a two-run homer from the bat of Billy Barber more than canceled out the Rams’ one run produced at the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Spiders managed to push their lead to as much as five on a three-run, three-hit inning that left no runners on base.
VCU produced in the top of the eighth when freshman Bill Cullen led off the inning with a single followed by an RBI single from junior Paul Nice which cut the Richmond lead to four.
Senior Michael Cheatham took advantage of an error by shortstop Mike Small but a throw from center field got past the Spiders third baseman Nick Poulos and Nice scored from third to bring the Rams within three.
VCU staged a comeback attempt at the start of the ninth inning when junior Kyle Sutherland hit a double down the left field line followed by senior Michael Caddell drawing a walk.
All hopes of a late rally came to an end, however, when Barber entered from the bullpen and retired three straight batters to end the game.
Following Tuesday night’s game, the Rams (13-18, 6-6) have now lost five of their last nine outings.
Who has the hot bat so far?
– Senior John Lenherr leads the team with his .426 batting average, producing 52 hits on 122 trips to the plate including eight doubles and 12 RBIs. Lenherr has had a hit in each of his last seven outings.
– Junior Taylor Perkins (.304) has produced 34 hits on 122 at-bats and leads the team in RBIs with 26 so far this season. Perkins has had a hit in five of his last 11 trips to the plate.
– Junior Kyle Sutherland (.368) has posted 25 hits in 68 at-bats including five doubles and 15 RBIs on 30 total bases.
Upcoming series: VCU (13-18, 6-6) vs. Northeastern (9-20, 4-8)
After dropping four straight at the start of April, the Northeastern Huskies have begun a campaign to turn their season around by reeling off victories in their last four games.
VCU and Northeastern will meet for the first time in conference play this season in a three-game set at The Diamond.
After taking two of a three-game series from last place George Mason this past weekend, the Rams will once again look to take advantage of a lower conference foe in the Huskies (11th place).
The weekend series presents a perfect time for VCU to shift some of the momentum of the season their way after dropping five of their last nine games.
